SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
The New York Times has a story that delves into a conundrum faced by Europeans: Why are there few, if any, technology companies from Europe with the size and reach of American tech giants like Google, Amazon, and Apple?
The article hypothesizes that, even though employment regulations and other business and legal factors play a role, it's actually deeply-embedded cultural differences that are the primary cause, citing less aversion to risk-taking, less stigma from business failures such as bankruptcies, little or no stigma from leaving and rejoining a company which is seen as disloyal in European cultures, more acceptance of disruptive innovation, and a less rigid educational system that allows individuals to find their own form of success.
(Considering the many indications that US schools now train for tests, not knowledge, perhaps alternatives to school are more attractive.)
Original Submission
(Score: 3, Informative) by VortexCortex on Sunday June 21 2015, @09:19PM
a conundrum faced by Europeans: Why are there few, if any, technology companies from Europe with the size and reach of American tech giants like Google, Amazon, and Apple?
Well, let's see. I seem to remember something about a common place such "tech giants" are headquartered according to their tax records... Oh yes, that's right:
The double Irish arrangement [wikipedia.org] is a tax avoidance strategy that some multinational corporations use to lower their corporate tax liability. The strategy uses payments between related entities in a corporate structure to shift income from a higher-tax country to a lower-tax country. It relies on the fact that Irish tax law does not include US transfer pricing rules. Specifically, Ireland has territorial taxation, and hence does not levy taxes on income booked in subsidiaries of Irish companies that are outside the state. [...]
It is called double Irish because it requires two Irish companies to complete the structure. One of these companies is tax resident in a tax haven, such as the Cayman Islands or Bermuda. Irish tax law currently provides that a company is tax resident where its central management and control is located, not where it is incorporated [...]
Major companies known to employ the double Irish strategy are:
Eureka! Europe's silicon valley is apparently Ireland, doubly so. Oh, you meant places where such tech giants employ workers? Well, to answer that we'll have to see where all those H1B employees are coming from...