IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolet/v219y2022ics0165176522003135.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Corporate tax cuts and firm employment: A match made in haven?

Author

Listed:
  • Souillard, Baptiste

Abstract

Evidence on employment responses to corporate income taxes is mixed. This paper revisits the issue in the context of corporate tax avoidance. It is now well known that multinational companies artificially register some of their profits in tax havens to reduce their tax liability. The study reveals that all other things being equal, the establishment of tax haven subsidiaries is followed by a 4 percent rise in firm employment in the subsequent years. This finding offers greater insight into how corporate income taxes affect employment levels. It also has particular resonance at a time when international tax regulation is tightening to limit the aggressive tax planning activities of large multinational companies.

Suggested Citation

  • Souillard, Baptiste, 2022. "Corporate tax cuts and firm employment: A match made in haven?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:219:y:2022:i:c:s0165176522003135
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2022.110835
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165176522003135
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.econlet.2022.110835?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Clément de Chaisemartin & Xavier D'Haultfœuille, 2020. "Two-Way Fixed Effects Estimators with Heterogeneous Treatment Effects," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(9), pages 2964-2996, September.
    2. Sebastian Beer & Ruud de Mooij & Li Liu, 2020. "International Corporate Tax Avoidance: A Review Of The Channels, Magnitudes, And Blind Spots," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(3), pages 660-688, July.
    3. Elhanan Helpman & Marc J. Melitz & Stephen R. Yeaple, 2004. "Export Versus FDI with Heterogeneous Firms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(1), pages 300-316, March.
    4. Thiess Buettner & Michael Overesch & Georg Wamser, 2018. "Anti profit-shifting rules and foreign direct investment," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 25(3), pages 553-580, June.
    5. Scott D. Dyreng & Bradley P. Lindsey, 2009. "Using Financial Accounting Data to Examine the Effect of Foreign Operations Located in Tax Havens and Other Countries on U.S. Multinational Firms' Tax Rates," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(5), pages 1283-1316, December.
    6. Anna Gumpert & James R. Hines Jr. & Monika Schnitzer, 2016. "Multinational Firms and Tax Havens," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 98(4), pages 713-727, October.
    7. Sarah Godar, 2021. "Tax-Haven Investors and Corporate Profitability - Evidence of Profit Shifting by German Affiliates of Multinational Firms," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 77(4), pages 345-375.
    8. Bilicka, Katarzyna & Qi, Yaxuan & Xing, Jing, 2022. "Real responses to anti-tax avoidance: Evidence from the UK Worldwide Debt Cap," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 214(C).
    9. de Mooij, Ruud & Liu, Li, 2021. "At a cost: The real effects of thin capitalization rules," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    10. Jones, Chris & Temouri, Yama, 2016. "The determinants of tax haven FDI," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 237-250.
    11. Goldbach, Stefan & Nagengast, Arne J. & Steinmüller, Elias & Wamser, Georg, 2019. "The effect of investing abroad on investment at home: On the role of technology, tax savings, and internal capital markets," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 58-73.
    12. James R. Hines & Eric M. Rice, 1994. "Fiscal Paradise: Foreign Tax Havens and American Business," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 109(1), pages 149-182.
    13. Baptiste Souillard, 2022. "Profit Shifting, Employee Pay, and Inequalities: Evidence from US-Listed Companies," CESifo Working Paper Series 9720, CESifo.
    14. Callaway, Brantly & Sant’Anna, Pedro H.C., 2021. "Difference-in-Differences with multiple time periods," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 200-230.
    15. Martin Jacob, 2022. "Real Effects of Corporate Taxation: A Review," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(1), pages 269-296, January.
    16. Mr. Alexander D Klemm & Ms. Li Liu, 2019. "The Impact of Profit Shifting on Economic Activity and Tax Competition," IMF Working Papers 2019/287, International Monetary Fund.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Tosun, Onur Kemal & Lucey, Brian, 2023. "Growth … What growth?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Katarzyna Bilicka & Evgeniya Dubinina & Petr Janský, 2022. "Fiscal consequences of corporate tax avoidance," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2022-97, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    2. Baptiste Souillard, 2022. "Profit Shifting, Employee Pay, and Inequalities: Evidence from US-Listed Companies," CESifo Working Paper Series 9720, CESifo.
    3. Jaqueline Hansen & Valeria Merlo & Georg Wamser, 2023. "Taxes, Profit Shifting, and the Real Activities of MNEs: Evidence from Corporate Tax Notches," CESifo Working Paper Series 10593, CESifo.
    4. Souillard, Baptiste, 2022. "Intra-industry spillovers of profit shifting and investments in tax havens," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 581-599.
    5. Hayato Kato & Hirofumi Okoshi, 2022. "Economic Integration And Agglomeration Of Multinational Production With Transfer Pricing," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 63(3), pages 1325-1355, August.
    6. Katarzyna Bilicka & Daniela Scur, 2021. "Organizational capacity and profit shifting," CEP Discussion Papers dp1795, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    7. Bruno Casella & Baptiste Souillard, . "A new framework to assess the fiscal impact of a global minimum tax on FDI," UNCTAD Transnational Corporations Journal, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
    8. Cooper, Maggie & Nguyen, Quyen T.K., 2020. "Multinational enterprises and corporate tax planning: A review of literature and suggestions for a future research agenda," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(3).
    9. Overesch Michael, 2016. "Steuervermeidung multinationaler Unternehmen," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, De Gruyter, vol. 17(2), pages 129-143, July.
    10. Viertola, Marika, 2023. "Profit shifting of multinational enterprises: evidence from the Nordics," Working Papers 155, VATT Institute for Economic Research.
    11. De Simone, Lisa & Klassen, Kenneth J. & Seidman, Jeri K., 2022. "The effect of income-shifting aggressiveness on corporate investment," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(1).
    12. Schwab, Thomas & Todtenhaupt, Maximilian, 2021. "Thinking outside the box: The cross-border effect of tax cuts on R&D," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 204(C).
    13. Cooper, Maggie & Nguyen, Quyen T.K., 2019. "Understanding the interaction of motivation and opportunity for tax planning inside US multinationals: A qualitative study," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 54(6), pages 1-1.
    14. Fuest, Clemens & Hugger, Felix & Neumeier, Florian, 2022. "Corporate profit shifting and the role of tax havens: Evidence from German country-by-country reporting data," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 454-477.
    15. Ropponen, Olli, 2021. "Interest Limitation Rules and Business Cycles: Empirical Evidence," ETLA Working Papers 90, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
    16. Bilicka, Katarzyna & Clancey-Shang, Danjue & Qi, Yaxuan, 2022. "Tax avoidance regulations and stock market responses," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    17. Bricongne, Jean-Charles & Delpeuch, Samuel & Lopez-Forero, Margarita, 2023. "Productivity slowdown and tax havens: Where is measured value creation?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    18. Chen, Hongwen & Cheng, Ken & Zhang, Meiyang, 2023. "Does geographic proximity affect firms’ cross-regional development? Evidence from high-speed rail construction in China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    19. K. V. Mukundhan & Sreevas Sahasranamam & James J. Cordeiro, 2019. "Corporate investments in tax havens: evidence from India," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 18(5), pages 360-388, November.
    20. Shafik Hebous & Alexander Klemm & Saila Stausholm, 2020. "Revenue Implications of Destination-Based Cash-Flow Taxation," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 68(4), pages 848-874, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Multinational enterprises; Tax avoidance; Profit shifting; Employment; Tax havens;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F16 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Labor Market Interactions
    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • M51 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Firm Employment Decisions; Promotions

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:219:y:2022:i:c:s0165176522003135. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolet .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.