Methods to improve tax systems all over the world will be sought in a new program of research and training being undertaken this year by the Law School, in cooperation with the United Nations.

Dean Griswold announced a grant of $200,000 from the Ford Foundation will initiate the program. Special attention will be given to under-developed countries and to the promotion of international trade and investment.

The Economic and Social Council of the United Nations had earlier called on the Secretary General to enlist the aid of universities in his studies of various tax systems.

The Law School program will be directed by Stanley S. Surrey professor of Law. Surrey has served as a member of the U. S. tax mission to Japan, and was recently special counsel to the congressional subcommittee investigating the internal revenue department.

Linked to U. N.

The research will be linked with the Law School's new program of international legal studies, and with the work of the Fiscal Division of the U. N. The U. N. will supply the Law School with facts and statistics on various tax systems now being used throughout the world.

The aid of tax economists from the Business and Public Administration schools will also be enlisted. Dean Griswold said.

"Legal studies of tax problems must be closely linked to an analysis of the economic policies and effects of tax laws," Griswold said. He added that conferences of tax experts with government or business experience abroad will be held.

"The designing of modern tax systems to meet the mounting revenue demands for economic development and defense has been a problem of growing concern to all the free nations," he said.