This paper examines the selection into emigration among entrepreneurs and analyses how taxation and residence-permit-related moving costs affect the international mobility of business owners. We use a unique dataset that links business owners to their firms across national borders between Finland and Estonia using personal identifiers. Variation in tax differentials across countries and over time, and the introduction of e-Residency program in 2014 in Estonia, provide the main sources of identification. We first study selection into out-migration and document income trajectories of business owners and their firms around the time of cross-border mobility. We then analyze mobility patterns before and after the introduction of e-Residency and tax changes, and relate these to the income dynamics and firm performance outcomes identified in the trajectory analysis. We find positive selection into cross-border mobility by owner income rank and firm size. Additionally, we find suggestive evidence of policy changes affecting location choices.

Most empirical work treats firms as stand-alone units, yet economic control is exercised through ownership networks. If owners differ in their ability to monitor, allocate capital, or organize production, then firm performance may depend on who owns the firm. This paper studies whether owners are heterogeneous in their association with firm outcomes and whether tax policy distorts the allocation of corporate control. Using a novel registry-based panel covering the universe of German firm–person ownership networks from 2002 to 2024, I link 5 million firms to 7 million individuals and observe ownership portfolios and transitions at scale. I estimate an AKM-style decomposition to quantify persistent owner-specific components in firm performance. The results provide new evidence on owner heterogeneity and concentration of firm ownership.

This paper studies the effects of foreign ownership among Finnish firms on top incomes. The Finnish top 1\% share increased significantly in the 1990s foreign acquisitions of Finnish firms increased rapidly. We examine how this affected the distribution of incomes. We find that on average wages increase and especially the top earners of the acquired firms gain the most in incomes. Second, we observe a set of connected firms through share board membership that allow us to study the spillover effects of the foreign acquisitions. Intriguingly, we find almost as large spillover effect in the connected firms as the direct foreign takeover effect. The direct effect and spillover effect combined allow us to explain a substantial part of the increase in top 1% share that occurred in Finland from the 1990s.

Using French administrative data from 2003–2023 linked to 1,073 private-equity buyouts, this paper shows that private-equity buyouts substantially reduce corporate philanthropy. Target-firm donations fall sharply after acquisition and the decline persists for several years. The reduction is not offset by higher giving at acquiring firms, implying a net loss in charitable transfers rather than a reallocation within corporate groups. In parallel, post-buyout financial outcomes improve, suggesting that the contraction in giving

does not reflect a mechanical shrinking of target activity but instead a shift in priorities under tighter ownership and governance.