IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jaecon/v64y2017i1p150-166.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does U.S. foreign earnings lockout advantage foreign acquirers?

Author

Listed:
  • Bird, Andrew
  • Edwards, Alexander
  • Shevlin, Terry

Abstract

We hypothesize and find evidence consistent with foreign firms being tax-favored acquirers of U.S. targets with greater locked-out earnings because they can avoid the U.S. tax on repatriations. This effect is economically significant; a standard deviation increase in lockout is associated with a 12% relative increase in the likelihood that an acquirer is foreign. We also find evidence that foreign acquirers of the target firms are more likely to be residents of countries that use territorial tax systems, as the tax advantages for a foreign firm acquiring a U.S. target with locked-out earnings are even greater for these acquirers.

Suggested Citation

  • Bird, Andrew & Edwards, Alexander & Shevlin, Terry, 2017. "Does U.S. foreign earnings lockout advantage foreign acquirers?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 150-166.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jaecon:v:64:y:2017:i:1:p:150-166
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jacceco.2017.06.004
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165410117300368
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jacceco.2017.06.004?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. Ellis, Jesse & Moeller, Sara B. & Schlingemann, Frederick P. & Stulz, Rene M., 2011. "Globalization, Governance, and the Returns to Cross-Border Acquisitions," Working Paper Series 2011-1, Ohio State University, Charles A. Dice Center for Research in Financial Economics.
    2. Dos Santos, Marcelo B. & Errunza, Vihang R. & Miller, Darius P., 2008. "Does corporate international diversification destroy value? Evidence from cross-border mergers and acquisitions," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(12), pages 2716-2724, December.
    3. James R. Hines, Jr. & R. Glenn Hubbard, 1990. "Coming Home to America: Dividend Repatriations by US Multinationals," NBER Chapters, in: Taxation in the Global Economy, pages 161-208, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Alexander Edwards & Todd Kravet & Ryan Wilson, 2016. "Trapped Cash and the Profitability of Foreign Acquisitions," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 33(1), pages 44-77, March.
    5. John R. Graham & Michelle Hanlon & Terry Shevlin, 2011. "Real Effects of Accounting Rules: Evidence from Multinational Firms’ Investment Location and Profit Repatriation Decisions," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(1), pages 137-185, March.
    6. Ervin L. Black & Thomas A. Carnes & Tomas Jandik & B. Charlene Henderson, 2007. "The Relevance of Target Accounting Quality to the Long-Term Success of Cross-Border Mergers," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(1-2), pages 139-168.
    7. Ervin L. Black & Thomas A. Carnes & Tomas Jandik & B. Charlene Henderson, 2007. "The Relevance of Target Accounting Quality to the Long‐Term Success of Cross‐Border Mergers," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(1‐2), pages 139-168, January.
    8. Hanlon, Michelle & Lester, Rebecca & Verdi, Rodrigo, 2015. "The effect of repatriation tax costs on U.S. multinational investment," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(1), pages 179-196.
    9. Desai, Mihir A. & Foley, C. Fritz & Hines, James R. Jr., 2001. "Repatriation Taxes and Dividend Distortions," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 54(4), pages 829-851, December.
    10. Anja de Waegenaere & Richard C. Sansing, 2008. "Taxation of International Investment and Accounting Valuation," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(4), pages 1045-1066, December.
    11. Scholes, Myron S & Wolfson, Mark A, 1990. "The Effects of Changes in Tax Laws on Corporate Reorganization Activity," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 63(1), pages 141-164, January.
    12. Moeller, Sara B. & Schlingemann, Frederik P., 2005. "Global diversification and bidder gains: A comparison between cross-border and domestic acquisitions," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 533-564, March.
    13. Donohoe, Michael P. & McGill, Gary A. & Outslay, Edmund, 2012. "Through a Glass Darkly: What Can We Learn About a U.S. Multinational Corporation’s International Operations From Its Financial Statement Disclosures?," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 65(4), pages 961-984, December.
    14. Feld, Lars P. & Ruf, Martin & Scheuering, Uwe & Schreiber, Ulrich & Voget, Johannes, 2016. "Repatriation taxes and outbound M&As," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 13-27.
    15. Hartman, David G., 1985. "Tax policy and foreign direct investment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 107-121, February.
    16. Harry P. Huizinga & Johannes Voget, 2009. "International Taxation and the Direction and Volume of Cross‐Border M&As," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(3), pages 1217-1249, June.
    17. Doukas, John & Travlos, Nickolaos G, 1988. " The Effect of Corporate Multinationalism on Shareholders' Wealth: Evidence from International Acquisitions," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 43(5), pages 1161-1175, December.
    18. Fritz Foley, C. & Hartzell, Jay C. & Titman, Sheridan & Twite, Garry, 2007. "Why do firms hold so much cash? A tax-based explanation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(3), pages 579-607, December.
    19. Jarrad Harford & Cong Wang & Kuo Zhang, 2017. "Foreign Cash: Taxes, Internal Capital Markets, and Agency Problems," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 30(5), pages 1490-1538.
    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. Todtenhaupt, Maximilian & Voget, Johannes & Feld, Lars P. & Ruf, Martin & Schreiber, Ulrich, 2020. "Taxing away M&A: Capital gains taxation and acquisition activity," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    2. Jeremiah Harris & William O'Brien, 2022. "Do U.S. firms disguise acquisitions to avoid taxes?," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 57(1), pages 95-127, February.
    3. Bradley S. Blaylock & Jimmy F. Downes & Mollie E. Mathis & Scott D. White, 2022. "Do bondholders incorporate expected repatriation taxes into their pricing of debt?," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 27(4), pages 1457-1492, December.
    4. Bradley, Sebastien & Robinson, Leslie & Ruf, Martin, 2021. "The impact of IP box regimes on the M&A market," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(2).
    5. Harris, Jeremiah & O'Brien, William, 2018. "U.S. worldwide taxation and domestic mergers and acquisitions," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(2), pages 419-438.
    6. Babkin, Anton & Glover, Brent & Levine, Oliver, 2017. "Are corporate inversions good for shareholders?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(2), pages 227-251.
    7. Chen, Novia X. & Shevlin, Terry, 2018. "“U.S. worldwide taxation and domestic mergers and acquisitions” a discussion✰," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(2), pages 439-447.
    8. Di Wang & Robert J. Weiner & Quan Li & Srividya Jandhyala, 2021. "Leviathan as foreign investor: Geopolitics and sovereign wealth funds," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 52(7), pages 1238-1255, September.
    9. Blouin, Jennifer L. & Fich, Eliezer M. & Rice, Edward M. & Tran, Anh L., 2021. "Corporate tax cuts, merger activity, and shareholder wealth," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(1).

    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. Chen, Novia X. & Shevlin, Terry, 2018. "“U.S. worldwide taxation and domestic mergers and acquisitions” a discussion✰," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(2), pages 439-447.
    2. Dong, Qi Flora & Cao, Yiting & Zhao, Xin & Deshmukh, Ashutosh, 2019. "Responses of US multinational firms to a temporary repatriation tax holiday: A literature review and synthesis," Journal of Accounting Literature, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 108-123.
    3. Muhammad Tahir & Haslindar Ibrahim & Abdul Hadi Zulkafli & Muhammad Mushtaq, 2020. "Influence of Exchange Rate Fluctuations and Credit Supply on Dividend Repatriation Policy of U.S. Multinational Corporations," Journal of Central Banking Theory and Practice, Central bank of Montenegro, vol. 9(special i), pages 267-290.
    4. Laplante, Stacie K. & Nesbitt, Wayne L., 2017. "The relation among trapped cash, permanently reinvested earnings, and foreign cash," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 126-148.
    5. Xie, En & Reddy, K.S. & Liang, Jie, 2017. "Country-specific determinants of cross-border mergers and acquisitions: A comprehensive review and future research directions," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 127-183.
    6. Hasegawa, Makoto & Kiyota, Kozo, 2017. "The effect of moving to a territorial tax system on profit repatriation: Evidence from Japan," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 92-110.
    7. Jennifer Blouin & Linda Krull, 2009. "Bringing It Home: A Study of the Incentives Surrounding the Repatriation of Foreign Earnings Under the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(4), pages 1027-1059, September.
    8. Michele Fabrizi & Antonio Parbonetti & Elisabetta Ipino & Michel Magnan, 2016. "Do Foreign Cash Holdings Generate Uncertainty for Market Participants?," CIRANO Working Papers 2016s-22, CIRANO.
    9. Fritz Foley, C. & Hartzell, Jay C. & Titman, Sheridan & Twite, Garry, 2007. "Why do firms hold so much cash? A tax-based explanation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(3), pages 579-607, December.
    10. 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).
    11. Beyer, Brooke & Downes, Jimmy & Rapley, Eric T., 2017. "Internal capital market inefficiencies, shareholder payout, and abnormal leverage," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 39-57.
    12. Barrios, Salvador & Huizinga, Harry & Laeven, Luc & Nicodème, Gaëtan, 2012. "International taxation and multinational firm location decisions," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(11), pages 946-958.
    13. Arulampalam, Wiji & Devereux, Michael P. & Liberini, Federica, 2019. "Taxes and the location of targets," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 161-178.
    14. De Simone, Lisa & Piotroski, Joseph D. & Tomy, Rimmy E., 2017. "Repatriation Taxes and Foreign Cash Holdings: The Impact of Anticipated Tax Policy," Research Papers 3507, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    15. Urooj Khan & Suresh Nallareddy & Ethan Rouen, 2017. "The Role of Taxes in the Disconnect between Corporate Performance and Economic Growth," Harvard Business School Working Papers 18-006, Harvard Business School.
    16. John R. Graham & Michelle Hanlon & Terry Shevlin, 2011. "Real Effects of Accounting Rules: Evidence from Multinational Firms’ Investment Location and Profit Repatriation Decisions," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(1), pages 137-185, March.
    17. Schanz, Sebastian, 2007. "Optimale Repatriierungspolitik: Auswirkungen von Tarifänderungen auf Repatriierungsentscheidungen bei Direktinvestitionen in Deutschland und Österreich," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 23, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
    18. Gregory, Alan & O'Donohoe, Sheila, 2014. "Do cross border and domestic acquisitions differ? Evidence from the acquisition of UK targets," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 61-69.
    19. Mihir A. Desai & C. Fritz Foley & James R. Hines Jr., 2002. "Dividend Policy inside the Firm," NBER Working Papers 8698, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Richardson, Grant & Taylor, Grantley & Obaydin, Ivan, 2020. "Does the use of tax haven subsidiaries by U.S. multinational corporations affect the cost of bank loans?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Taxes; International; Acquisitions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies

    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:jaecon:v:64:y:2017:i:1:p:150-166. 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/jae .

    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.