The rise of private foundations as owners of Swedish industry: The role of tax incentives 1862-2018

Arbeitspapier

The tax system has at times favoured firm control through private foundations, which has been argued to inhibit high-impact entrepreneurship and economic growth. However, research has been hampered due to a lack of systematic historical tax data. The purpose of this study is threefold. First, we describe the evolution of tax rules for private foundations in Sweden between 1862 and 2018. Second, we calculate the marginal effective tax rate on capital income. Third, we examine the incentives to use private foundations as a means for corporate control by comparing the taxation of private foundations and of high-impact entrepreneurs. Tax incentives help explain why economically significant private foundations were founded between World War I and the 1960s.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IFN Working Paper ; No. 1245

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Personal Income, Wealth, and Their Distributions ; Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents: Firm ; Tax Law ; Entrepreneurship ; Economic History: Financial Markets and Institutions: Europe: Pre-1913 ; Institutions and Growth ; Capitalist Enterprises ; Capitalist Systems: Property Rights
• Subject: Family firms ; Foundations ; High-impact entrepreneurship ; Owner ; Taxation

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Johansson, Dan ; Stenkula, Mikael ; Wykman, Niklas
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)
• (where): Stockholm
• (when): 2018

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/210886
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET