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Do R&D tax incentives lead to higher wages for R&D workers? Evidence from The Netherlands

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  • Lokshin, Boris
  • Mohnen, Pierre

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of the Dutch R&D tax incentive scheme on the wages of R&D workers. We construct firm specific R&D tax credit rates that vary over time following variations in the Dutch R&D tax incentive program. Using instrumental variables we estimate a wage-sharing model with an unbalanced firm-level panel data covering the period 1997–2004. The elasticity of the R&D wage with respect to the fraction of the wage supported by the fiscal incentives scheme is estimated at 0.2 in the short run and 0.24 in the long run.

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  • Lokshin, Boris & Mohnen, Pierre, 2013. "Do R&D tax incentives lead to higher wages for R&D workers? Evidence from The Netherlands," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 823-830.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:respol:v:42:y:2013:i:3:p:823-830
    DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2012.12.004
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    4. Diego d’Andria & Dimitrios Pontikakis & Agnieszka Skonieczna, 2018. "Towards a European R&D incentive? An assessment of R&D provisions under a common corporate tax base," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(5-6), pages 531-550, August.
    5. Nilsen, Øivind Anti & Raknerud, Arvid & Iancu, Diana-Cristina, 2018. "Public R&D Support and Firms' Performance: A Panel Data Study," IZA Discussion Papers 11651, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Bronwyn H. Hall, 2020. "Tax Policy for Innovation," NBER Chapters, in: Innovation and Public Policy, pages 151-188, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Montmartin, Benjamin & Herrera, Marcos, 2015. "Internal and external effects of R&D subsidies and fiscal incentives: Empirical evidence using spatial dynamic panel models," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(5), pages 1065-1079.
    8. Michel Dumont, 2015. "Working Paper 05-15 - Evaluation of federal tax incentives for private R&D in Belgium: An update," Working Papers 1505, Federal Planning Bureau, Belgium.
    9. Vincent Dortet-Bernadet & Michaël Sicsic, 2017. "The effect of R&D subsidies and tax incentives on employment: an evaluation for small firms in France," Economie et Statistique / Economics and Statistics, Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques (INSEE), issue 493, pages 5-22.
    10. Knoll, Bodo & Riedel, Nadine & Schwab, Thomas & Todtenhaupt, Maximilian & Voget, Johannes, 2021. "Cross-border effects of R&D tax incentives," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(9).
    11. Liu, Yuanyuan & Liu, Guanchun & Zhang, Chengsi, 2021. "Local land supply and fiscal incentives for R&D: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    12. Florian Flachenecker, 2018. "The causal impact of material productivity on macroeconomic competitiveness in the European Union," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 20(1), pages 17-46, January.
    13. Nilsen, Øivind A. & Raknerud, Arvid & Iancu, Diana-Cristina, 2020. "Public R&D support and firm performance: A multivariate dose-response analysis," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(7).
    14. António Osório & Alberto Pinto, 2020. "Income inequality and technological progress: The effect of R&D incentives, integration, and spillovers," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 22(6), pages 1943-1964, December.
    15. Dumont, Michel, 2022. "Public support to business research and development in Belgium: fourth evaluation," MPRA Paper 115418, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Minniti, Antonio & Venturini, Francesco, 2017. "The long-run growth effects of R&D policy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 316-326.
    17. Irem Guceri, 2018. "Will the real R&D employees please stand up? Effects of tax breaks on firm-level outcomes," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 25(1), pages 1-63, February.
    18. André Spithoven, Belgian Science Policy Office and Ghent University & Michel Dumont & Peter Teirlinck, Belgian Science Policy Office and KU Leuven, 2014. "Working Paper 08-14 - Public support for R&D and the educational mix of R&D employees," Working Papers 1408, Federal Planning Bureau, Belgium.
    19. Michel Dumont, 2019. "Working Paper 04-19 - Tax incentives for business R&D in Belgium - Third evaluation," Working Papers 1904, Federal Planning Bureau, Belgium.
    20. Manelici, Isabela & Pantea, Smaranda, 2021. "Industrial policy at work: Evidence from Romania’s income tax break for workers in IT," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    21. V. Dortet-Bernadet & M. Sicsic, 2015. "The effect of public support on R&D employment in small firms," Documents de Travail de l'Insee - INSEE Working Papers g2015-11, Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques.
    22. Brita Bye & Marit Klemetsen & Arvid Raknerud, 2019. "The impact of public R&D support on firms' patenting," Discussion Papers 911, Statistics Norway, Research Department.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    R&D wages; Tax incentives;

    JEL classification:

    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
    • O38 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Government Policy
    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General
    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models

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