American Economic Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
Taxing Top Wealth: Migration Responses and Their Aggregate Economic Implications
American Economic Review
(pp. 3674–3720)
Abstract
Using administrative data from Scandinavian countries, we provide evidence on international migration responses to wealth taxes and evaluate their aggregate economic implications. We find significant migration responses among the wealthy: A 1 percentage point increase in the top wealth tax rate decreases the stock of wealthy taxpayers by about 2 percent. A large fraction of the wealthy are business owners, and their businesses are negatively affected by owner out-migration. The aggregate effects are nevertheless modest: The migration responses to a 1 percentage point increase in the top wealth tax rate reduce employment by 0.02 percent, investments by 0.07 percent, and value added by 0.10 percent.Citation
Jakobsen, Katrine, Henrik Kleven, Jonas Kolsrud, Camille Landais, and Mathilde Munoz. 2026. "Taxing Top Wealth: Migration Responses and Their Aggregate Economic Implications." American Economic Review 116 (10): 3674–3720. DOI: 10.1257/aer.20241596Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D31 Personal Income, Wealth, and Their Distributions
- E22 Investment; Capital; Intangible Capital; Capacity
- E24 Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
- F22 International Migration
- H24 Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies; includes inheritance and gift taxes
- L26 Entrepreneurship
- K34 Tax Law