The Effect of State Taxes on the Geographical Location of Top Earners: Evidence from Star Scientists

Authors

Enrico Moretti

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2015-06 | March 1, 2017

We quantify how sensitive is migration by star scientist to changes in personal and business tax differentials across states. We uncover large, stable, and precisely estimated effects of personal and corporate taxes on star scientists’ migration patterns. The long run elasticity of mobility relative to taxes is 1.8 for personal income taxes, 1.9 for state corporate income tax and -1.7 for the investment tax credit. While there are many other factors that drive when innovative individual and innovative companies decide to locate, there are enough firms and workers on the margin that state taxes matter.

Article Citation

Wilson, Daniel J., and Enrico Moretti. 2015. “The Effect of State Taxes on the Geographical Location of Top Earners: Evidence from Star Scientists,” Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Working Paper 2015-06. Available at https://doi.org/10.24148/wp2015-06

About the Author
Daniel Wilson
Daniel Wilson is a vice president in the Economic Research Department of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Learn more about Daniel Wilson