Taxation and the International Mobility of Inventors

Ufuk Akcigit, Salome Baslandze and Stefanie Stantcheva

American Economic Review, 2016, vol. 106, issue 10, 2930-81

Abstract: We study the effect of top tax rates on "superstar" inventors' international mobility since 1977, using panel data on inventors from the US and European Patent Offices. We exploit the differential impact of changes in top tax rates on inventors of different qualities. Superstar inventors' location choices are significantly affected by top tax rates. In our preferred specification, the elasticity to the net-of-tax rate of the number of domestic superstar inventors is around 0.03, while that of foreign superstar inventors is around 1. These elasticities are larger for inventors in multinational companies. An inventor is less sensitive to taxes in a country if his company performs a higher share of its research there.

JEL-codes: F22 F23 H24 H31 J61 O31 O34 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
Note: DOI: 10.1257/aer.20150237
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (185)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Taxation and the International Mobility of Inventors (2015)
Working Paper: Taxation and the International Mobility of Inventors (2015)
Working Paper: Taxation and the International Mobility of Inventors (2015)
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