Company Taxation in the European Union

This paper investigates different measures of corporate tax burden ranging from the most basic ones such as the statutory tax rate to the effective tax rates. Each of these measures has advantages and disadvantages and they may lead to different rankings of countries. One of the reasons lies the fact that they measure different things. The comparison of the statutory tax rates to the effective ones for the EU-27 during the period of 1998-2009 sometimes reveals very significant differences between these indicators. Taking this into consideration, the paper suggests that corporate tax burden analysis should not be limited to the most basic and readily available measure in the form of the statutory tax rate. Different measures are tailored to answer different research questions. Moreover, the article presents changes of company taxation for the EU-27 within 1998-2009.W artykule dokonano przeglądu miar obciążenia podatkowego przedsiębiorstw. Rozpoczynając od wielkości najprostszych, jak stopa nominalna, a kończąc na miarach efektywnych. Każdy ze wskaźników ma wady i zalety, a jego wykorzystanie może prowadzić do różnego uszeregowania państw ze względu na poziom opodatkowania. Jedną z przyczyn jest fakt, iż wielkości te mierzą inne rzeczy. Porównanie stóp nominalnych i efektywnych w krajach UE-27, w latach 1998-2009, wskazuje na istnienie niekiedy bardzo istotnych różnic pomiędzy analizowanymi wskaźnikami. W związku z tym artykuł sugeruje, iż nie należy ograniczać analiz opodatkowania przedsiębiorstw, do najprostszego i najłatwiej dostępnego wskaźnika w postaci ustawowej stopy podatkowej a rozszerzyć je o miary efektywne. Wielkości te, stanowiące lepszy instrument do porównań międzynarodowych, umożliwiają przeprowadzenie wszechstronnych badań

Equity Ownership Strategy in Greenfield Investments : Influences of Host Country Infrastructure and MNE Resources in Emerging Markets

This chapter addresses equity ownership strategy in greenfield investments by multinational enterprises (MNEs) in the emerging markets (EMs). It is one of the few studies to hypothesize and analyze influences of host EM physical infrastructure in relation to investment decisions of MNEs. We use resource dependence theory (RDT) as a theoretical basis and test the moderating effects of firm resources like size and host country investment experience. Moreover, the current study assumes a more nuanced approach to studying equity ownership by analyzing wholly owned subsidiaries versus joint ventures (JVs) and including majority versus minority JVs in the analysis as well. The empirical results based on greenfield investments undertaken by Nordic (Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish) MNEs in EMs during 1990–2015 reveals the importance of host country physical infrastructure for high equity ownership strategy. Moreover, host country investment experience moderates the effect of physical infrastructure on equity ownership strategy. Finally, the analysis of a sub-sample of greenfield JVs reveals that determinants of equity ownership strategy differ somewhat between greenfield JV or greenfield wholly owned subsidiaries (WOS).© The Author(s) 2019.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Production Externalities in the Wood Furniture Industry in Central Java

This paper exploits micro firm level data to examine the impact of spatial clustering and links to foreign buyer networks on firm performance in the wood furniture industry in Central Java, Indonesia. The analysis is based on an annual manufacturing survey. We identify the impact of specialization of the cluster, diversification, and links to foreign buyer networks. For this purpose, a production function framework is developed. The results lend support to the view that clustering of large and medium scale specialized firms improves firm performance, while clustering of small scale specialized firms and clustering of diverse firms are not conducive to firm performance. We also find a clear positive association between involvement in exporting activities and firm performance

Inward and Outward FDI Country Profiles, Second Edition

This second edition contains a series of 77 standardized country profiles dealing with the inward and outward foreign direct investment (FDI) performance of 40 economies. The profiles have been peer-reviewed by a global network of experts. The publication is intended to contribute to the analysis of trends in foreign direct investment and policy issues related to them. More specifically, the individual profiles discuss FDI trends and developments (country-level developments, the corporate players); effects of the recent global crises; and the policy scene. Each profile contains a standard set of tables, including on FDI stocks and flows, sectoral and geographical FDI distributions, the largest M&As and greenfield investments, the principal foreign affiliates (for inward FDI), and the principal multinational enterprises (for outward FDI). The standardized template used to produce the profiles allows cross-country comparisons. The volume is meant to be a reference tool for anyone interested in foreign direct investment

Measuring Tax Attractiveness Across Countries

This paper develops a new tax measure - the Tax Attractiveness Index - reflecting the attractiveness of a country's tax environment and the tax planning opportunities that are offered. Specifically, the Tax Attractiveness Index covers 16 different components of real-world tax systems, such as the statutory tax rate, the taxation of dividends and capital gains, withholding taxes, the existence of a group taxation regime, loss offset provision, the double tax treaty network, thin capitalization rules, and controlled foreign company (CFC) rules. We develop methods to quantify each tax factor. The Tax Attractiveness Index is constructed for 100 countries over the 2005 to 2009 period. Regional clusters in the index as well as in the application of certain tax rules can be observed. The evaluation of individual countries based on the index corresponds - but is not totally identical - with the OECD's black respectively grey list. By comparing the Tax Attractiveness Index with the statutory tax rate, we reveal that even high tax countries offer favorable tax condi-tions. Hence, the statutory tax rate is not a suitable proxy for a country's tax climate in any case since countries may set other incentives to attract firms and investments