Taxation and the transfer of patents: Evidence from Europe

Laurie Ciaramella
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Laurie Ciaramella: NHH - Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration, Department of Economics - Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration, Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition - Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, ECO-Télécom Paris - Equipe Eco Economie - I3 SES - Institut interdisciplinaire de l’innovation de Telecom Paris - Télécom Paris - IMT - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris] - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris - I3 - Institut interdisciplinaire de l’innovation - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, SES - Département Sciences Economiques et Sociales - Télécom Paris - IMT - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris] - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris

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Abstract: I study how taxes affect firms' incentives to shift the location of intangible assets. Using firm-level data on patent reassignments, I exploit variations in statutory tax rates and the introduction of "patent box" policies as shocks modifying incentives to transfer patents across countries. The results suggest a large impact of taxes on asset shifting between affiliates, increasing with expected patent income, and driven by very large firms. Patent boxes are persistently associated with more incoming and less outgoing patent relocations between affiliates. These findings suggest that taxes provide firms with incentives to shift income via patent relocation, and advocate for considering patent transfer strategies in tax policy.

Keywords: Corporate tax; Patent box; Intellectual property; Patent ownership; Patent transfers; Markets for technology (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023-01
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Published in European Economic Review, 2023, 151, pp.104312. ⟨10.1016/j.euroecorev.2022.104312⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04577010

DOI: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2022.104312

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