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American Economic Review Vol. 116 No. 10 2026

Taxing Top Wealth: Migration Responses and Their Aggregate Economic Implications

Katrine Jakobsen1; Henrik Kleven2; Jonas Kolsrud3; Camille Landais4; Mathilde Muñoz5

1 University of Copenhagen (email: ) · 2 Princeton University, NBER, and CEPR (email: ) · 3 Linnaeus University and RFBerlin () · 4 London School of Economics and CEPR (email: ) · 5 UC Berkeley, NBER, and CEPR (email: )

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.

DOI
10.1257/aer.20241596
Volume
116
Issue
10
Pages
3674-3720
Language
en
Sources
crossref openalex

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