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Corporate Taxation and the Choice of Patent Location within Multinational Firms

Author

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  • Tom Karkinsky

    (Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation)

  • Nadine Riedel

    (Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation)

Abstract

This paper investigates whether corporate taxation affects the location of patents within a multinational group. We exploit a unique dataset which links patent data from the European Patent Office to micro panel data on European firms for 1995-2003. Our results suggest that the host country’s corporate tax rate exerts a negative effect on the number of patents filed by a multinational subsidiary. The effect is statistically significant and quantitatively large and turns out to be robust against controlling for affiliate size. The findings prevail if we additionally account for royalty withholding taxes. Moreover, binding ‘Controlled Foreign Company’ rules tend to decrease the number of patent applications.

Suggested Citation

  • Tom Karkinsky & Nadine Riedel, 2009. "Corporate Taxation and the Choice of Patent Location within Multinational Firms," Working Papers 0914, Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation.
    • Handle: RePEc:btx:wpaper:0914
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    corporate taxation; multinational enterprise; profit shifting;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance
    • C33 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models

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