Foreign (in)direct investment and corporate taxation

This paper investigates the role of corporate taxation with respect to a multinational's investment decision, in which the multinational can pursue either a direct or an indirect investment strategy. The latter involves at least three corporate entities and opens up enhanced opportunities for international tax planning. The existence of preferential tax treatment for conduit or intermediate corporate entities presumably changes the role of corporate taxation in destination countries, because it supports multinationals in avoiding taxes. The empirical findings of this study are consistent with theoretical predictions and suggest that tax effects differ, depending on the investment regime. The endogeneity of the structural choice - direct versus indirect - is taken into account by a switching regression approach. --multinational company,business taxes,firm-level data,switching regression

German inbound investment, corporate tax planning, and thin-capitalization rules: a difference-in-differences approach

This paper investigates tax planning behavior by means of inter-company finance and the effectiveness of fighting back via thin-capitalization rules. A simple theoretical model, which considers the financing decision of a multinational company, is used to obtain empirical implications. The empirical analysis, based on German inbound investment data from 1996 until 2004, supports a significant impact of tax rate differences on the use of intra-company debt. The effectiveness of the German thin-capitalization rule is tested by using legal amendments as natural experiments. The results suggest that the German thin-capitalization rule induces significantly lower intra-firm debt-levels of inbound investments. Hence, tax planning via intra-firm finance is effectively limited. --Corporate Income Tax,Multinationals,Thin-Capitalization Rule,Difference-in-Differences,Firm-Level Data

Intercompany Loans and Profit Shifting – Evidence from Company-Level Data

This paper is concerned with tax-planning strategies of multinational corporations. A theoretical analysis discusses the choice of the capital structure in a setting where intercompany loans can be used to shift profits to low-tax countries. Empirical evidence is provided using micro-level panel data of virtually all German multinationals made available by the Bundesbank. This comprehensive dataset allows us to exploit differences in taxing conditions of almost eighty countries during a period of nine years. The empirical results confirm a robust impact of tax-rate differences within the multinational group on the use of intercompany loans, supporting the profit-shifting hypothesis. However, the implied tax-revenue effects are rather small, suggesting that costs related to adjusting the capital structure for profit-shifting purposes are substantial.corporate taxation, multination corporations, tax planning, intercompany loans, tax haven, FDI, micro-level data

Application of Regionally Varying Additionality Degrees in the Practice of EU Cohesion Policy

The additionality principle says that the funds of the European Union should not replace, but be an addition to national regional policy funds. The benchmark for the co-funding is that the EU bears 50% of total costs associated with regional projects eligible for EU support. In some regions, however, the EU contribution has reached 85% of total costs. This study examines how such additionality degrees are determined. Our findings indicate that the regional variation of additionality degrees is largely in line with EU cohesion policy goals. Most notably, higher shares of EU funds are provided to regions with lower GDP per capita. Furthermore, while the share of service-sector employees in a region is negatively related to the additionality degree, the impact of the rate of long-term unemployment is positive.additionality, cohesion policy, EU regions, matching grant, growth and distribution

German Inbound Investment, Corporate Tax Planning, and Thin-Capitalization Rules – A Difference-in-Differences Approach

This paper investigates tax planning behavior by means of inter-company finance and the effectiveness of fighting back via thin-capitalization rules. A simple theoretical model, which considers the financing decision of a multinational company, is used to obtain empirical implications. The empirical analysis, based on German inbound investment data from 1996 until 2004, supports a significant impact of tax rate differences on the use of intra-company debt. The effectiveness of the German thin-capitalization rule is tested by using legal amendments as natural experiments. The results suggest that the German thin-capitalization rule induces significantly lower intra-firm debt-levels of inbound investments. Hence, tax planning via intra-firm finance is effectively limited

Effects of the Endogenous Scope of Preferentialism on International Goods Trade

Previous empirical research has assumed that goods trade responds to goods trade preferentialism only, while other forms of preferentialism — such as services trade or investment preferentialism — are irrelevant for goods trade. This article provides novel evidence for the gains from a broader scope of preferentialism (in terms of the number of dimensions covered: goods, services, and investment) at the intensive and extensive country margins of bilateral goods trad

Lisbon Agenda, Regional Innovation System and the New EU Cohesion Policy

The EU’s cohesion policy should now be confluent with the goals of the Lisbon strategy by promoting growth and employment. In this context, the promotion of a concept called regional innovation system has recently become important in the EU for guaranteeing long-term regional economic growth. This paper attempts to explain the determinants of the varying degrees of innovation promotion by the EU from one region to another. Since regional-policy strategies should have been subject to a new orientation towards more innovation promotion, we are particularly interested in whether the EU’s co-financing policy of innovation projects changed for the 2007-2013 program period compared with the 2000-2006 period. According to our empirical analysis, which controls for various determinants of innovation promotion, there has been no significant change in the EU’s regional policy strategy in general. We confirm this result when focusing on less-developed Objective 1 regions, where we would have expected the new policy strategy to show up more pronounced in particular.Lisbon Agenda, regional innovation network, EU cohesion policy