Laurie Ciaramella (Telecom Paris Tech & Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition) (webinar)

“Taxation and the Transfer of Patents: Evidence from European patent boxes”

Abstract: I study how taxes affect firms’ incentives to shift income derived from intangible assets. I use detailed data on patent reassignments, and exploit the introduction of European “patent box” regimes, which offer advantageous tax conditions on intellectual property revenues, as a shock modifying incentives to transfer patents. The results suggest a large impact of patent boxes on asset shifting between affiliates, and no effect on attracting patents traded on markets for technology. The positive impact of patent boxes on asset relocation persists years after their introduction, and is larger the higher the tax rebate and the expected patent revenues. Binding CFC rules and withholding taxes on royalty payments between affiliates are negatively associated with patent relocation. The findings demonstrate the importance of considering not only patent fling, but also patent transfer strategies in policy making processes.

If you are interested to attend the webinar please contact: seminars@carloalberto.org