This internship will contribute to the development of an evidence base on how residential property taxation may influence specific housing‑related behaviours. The main focus of the internship will involve a desk-based literature review examining evidence from Scotland, and other countries where relevant. It will also involve working closely with policy colleagues in both the Local Government and Tax Directorates to understand the Scottish context and determine the relevancy of existing literature for policy development.  
 
The exact project design and process will be designed with the successful candidate. Key elements are likely to involve:  
 
• An initial search of the existing literature to determine which housing-related behavioural responses are best supported by the existing evidence base 
• Selection of one or two key behaviours for more detailed examination (for example, household mobility, housing tenure decisions, or investment in property improvements). This will involve discussions with policy officials to determine which are most relevant to the Scottish policy context 
• Explore how Scotland’s residential property taxes (including Council Tax and Land and Buildings Transaction Tax) are designed and the behavioural incentives they may create in theory and practice, with particular reference to the selected behaviours. International evidence may be used to illustrate theoretical mechanisms, potential lessons and trade‑offs. 
• Assess the strength and limitations of the available evidence relating to the selected behaviours, clearly identifying where findings are robust, where results are mixed or context‑dependent, and where evidence gaps remain. 
 
The internship will be situated within the Local Government analytical unit, which is a mixed-analytical professions team and includes economists, social researchers and statisticians. The successful intern will have the opportunity to understand how a wide range of analysis supports policy development and implementation. A report published on the Scottish Government website would be the expected output of this project.