aeaweb.org
Taxing Top Wealth: Migration Responses and their Aggregate Economic Implications
(Forthcoming Article) - 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 1pp increase in the top wealth tax
rate decreases the stock of wealthy taxpayers by about 2%. 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 1pp increase in the
top wealth tax rate reduce employment by 0.02%, investments by 0.07%, and value-added by
0.10%.