We investigate whether the adoption of an intellectual property box increases innovative activity and what type of firms benefit. We examine the adoption of the intellectual property box in Belgium because it allows us to cleanly identify the impact on innovative activity and effective tax...

We exploit a quasi-experimental setting to cleanly identify the effect of the adoption of an intellectual property box (IP box) on innovative activity and effective tax rates. We document an increase in innovative activity, including patent applications, grants, and highly-skilled employment, at...