{"title":"The Labor Effects of R&D Tax Incentives: Evidence from VC-Backed Startups","authors":"Jun Chen, Shenje Hshieh","doi":"10.1093/rof/rfae026","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"We evaluate the impact of the PATH Act of 2015, which allowed some existing VC-backed startups to monetize their R&D tax credits against payroll taxes in the U.S. We show that marginally eligible startups increase their demand for R&D workers more than marginally ineligible startups after the PATH Act’s enactment. These effects are stronger among startups that are financially constrained. Marginally eligible startups subsequently recruit workers with more education and experience and file more patents with new inventors. Our findings suggest payroll tax credits are effective in scaling startups and stimulating R&D activities through skilled labor recruitment.","PeriodicalId":48036,"journal":{"name":"Review of Finance","volume":"23 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.6000,"publicationDate":"2024-08-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Review of Finance","FirstCategoryId":"96","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1093/rof/rfae026","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"BUSINESS, FINANCE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
We evaluate the impact of the PATH Act of 2015, which allowed some existing VC-backed startups to monetize their R&D tax credits against payroll taxes in the U.S. We show that marginally eligible startups increase their demand for R&D workers more than marginally ineligible startups after the PATH Act’s enactment. These effects are stronger among startups that are financially constrained. Marginally eligible startups subsequently recruit workers with more education and experience and file more patents with new inventors. Our findings suggest payroll tax credits are effective in scaling startups and stimulating R&D activities through skilled labor recruitment.
期刊介绍:
The Review of Finance, the official journal of the European Finance Association, aims at a wide circulation and visibility in the finance profession. The journal publishes high-quality papers in all areas of financial economics, both established and newly developing fields: • •Asset pricing •Corporate finance •Banking and market microstructure •Law and finance •Behavioral finance •Experimental finance Review of Finance occasionally publishes special issues on timely topics, including selected papers presented at the meetings of the European Finance Association or at other selected conferences in the field.