What does wealth tax really mean to jobs?

7 September 2021 09:37

(updated: 7 September 2021 13:37)

What does wealth tax really mean to jobs?

Petter Bjerksund and Guttorm Schjelderup: Research does not support the statement that wealth tax makes Norwegian investors less willing to own firms.

Neither does research support the statement that wealth tax cuts lead to more Norwegian jobs. The reason for that is that the firm's adaptation will be the same, regardless of who the owner is, if the owner is focused on maximizing value added.

If an increase of employment is politically desirable, there should, in our opinion, rather be a reduction of the price that the firm pays for work, for instance by cutting the employers' contribution, Petter Bjerksund and Guttorm Schjelderup write.

Their feature article Hva betyr egentlig formuesskatten for arbeidsplassene? (in Norwegian) was published in Verdens Gang on 5 September, 2021.