Taxes and the Global Spillovers of AI Investments
Friday 17 October 2025, 10:15am to 11:30am
Venue
LT2, George FoxOpen to
Postgraduates, StaffRegistration
Registration not required - just turn upEvent Details
Accounting and Finance, Accounting seminar to be presented by Assistant Professor Marcel Olbert, London Business School. Paper title: Taxes and the Global Spillovers of AI Investments
Marcel Olbert | London Business School
Abstract
We study how tax policy shapes the cross-border spillovers of firms’ investments in artificial intelligence (AI). Using data on nearly 2,000 U.S. firms and their 40,000 European subsidiaries, we find that U.S.-based AI investment predicts growth in foreign subsidiary assets, revenues, R&D, and productivity. These effects are strongest in countries with R&D tax incentives and low corporate tax rates. Using a shift-share design, we document aggregate spillovers in European economies through both within-U.S. firm expansion and peer firm diffusion. Our findings reveal how tax policy attracts frontier technology investment via multinational firm networks.
Keywords: AI investment, intangible assets, growth, tax policy, tax competition, real effects of taxation
Speaker
London Business School
Previously a Research Assistant and PhD student at Germany’s University of Mannheim, Dr Marcel Olbert’s broad range of experience includes investment banking within the M&A advisory group of JP Morgan London, strategy consulting with Roland Berger and international tax and private equity with PwC and Flick Gocke Schaumburg. His research interests focus on the real effects of corporate taxation and disclosure regulation – examining how multinational businesses respond to incentives that stem from
Contact Details
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