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The Wealth Tax and Entrepreneurial Activity

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Abstract
Entrepreneurship is often credited with generating important positive economic externalities. For example, entrepreneurs are often credited for promoting innovation, discovering new markets, and serving as a mechanism for knowledge spillover. Governments increasingly view encouraging entrepreneurship as an important policy objective. Economists have long studied the determinants of entrepreneurship. Taxation has also been found to be important, in particular income taxes and capital taxes. One form of taxation that has not been considered so far, however, is the wealth tax. The wealth tax is likely to influence entrepreneurship negatively, by affecting the pool of capital available to start up businesses as well as reducing the net return to successful entrepreneurship. This paper illustrates the impact of a tax on wealth on entrepreneurship using a simple model of the choice between becoming an entrepreneur or an employee. Actual data is then used to crudely investigate whether the wealth tax indeed has a measurable effect on self-employment in OECD countries, using increasingly sophisticated techniques. A difference-in-difference type estimator using the abolishment of the wealth tax as a ”natural experiment” points to a consistent pattern of a perceptible, but small impact.

Suggested Citation

  • Hansson, Åsa, 2005. "The Wealth Tax and Entrepreneurial Activity," Working Papers 2005:43, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:lunewp:2005_043
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    1. Keuschnigg, Christian & Nielsen, Soren Bo, 2003. "Tax policy, venture capital, and entrepreneurship," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 175-203, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ruud A. De Mooij & Gaëtan J.A. Nicodème & Gaëtan J.A. Nicodeme, 2006. "Corporate Tax Policy, Entrepreneurship and Incorporation in the EU," CESifo Working Paper Series 1883, CESifo.
    2. Mikael Stenkula, 2012. "Taxation and entrepreneurship in a welfare state," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 39(1), pages 77-97, July.
    3. Schnellenbach, Jan, 2012. "The economics of taxing net wealth: A survey of the issues," Freiburg Discussion Papers on Constitutional Economics 12/5, Walter Eucken Institut e.V..
    4. Bjørneby, Marie & Markussen, Simen & Røed, Knut, 2020. "Does the Wealth Tax Kill Jobs?," IZA Discussion Papers 13766, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Entrepreneurship; wealth tax; difference-in-difference estimation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H24 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies
    • H31 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Household
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand

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