IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/b/spr/mathfi/v16y2022i3d10.1007_s11579-022-00318-4.html
   My bibliography  Save this book

The implications of tax loss carryforwards on investment policy

Author

Listed:
  • Hervé Roche

    (Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez)

Abstract

This paper explores the effects of tax loss carryforwards (TLCs) on the timing of an irreversible investment. Tax asymmetries restrict the use of TLCs, which induces an option value on the benefits of investing. We highlight the trade-off between the cost of delaying the investment and exercising the option deep in the money in order to expedite the use of the fiscal benefit. The optimal investment trigger turns out to be higher than it will be under a (refundable) tax credit scheme granting the same fiscal benefit at the investment completion date; Bernanke (Q J Econ 98:85–106, 1983) “bad news principle” is now twofold as a drop in earnings delays the use of the fiscal benefit and thus reduces its value. Numerical simulations indicate that the quantitative impact of TLCs is significant. Overall, tax loss carryforwards benefit more large corporations than entrepreneurs.

Suggested Citation

  • Hervé Roche, 2022. "The implications of tax loss carryforwards on investment policy," Mathematics and Financial Economics, Springer, volume 16, number 6, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:mathfi:v:16:y:2022:i:3:d:10.1007_s11579-022-00318-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s11579-022-00318-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11579-022-00318-4
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11579-022-00318-4?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. Frank Riedel & Xia Su, 2011. "On irreversible investment," Finance and Stochastics, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 607-633, December.
    2. Sarkar, Sudipto, 2008. "Can tax convexity be ignored in corporate financing decisions?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(7), pages 1310-1321, July.
    3. Abel, Andrew B & Eberly, Janice C, 1994. "A Unified Model of Investment under Uncertainty," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(5), pages 1369-1384, December.
    4. Leland, Hayne E, 1994. "Corporate Debt Value, Bond Covenants, and Optimal Capital Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 49(4), pages 1213-1252, September.
    5. Ben S. Bernanke, 1983. "Irreversibility, Uncertainty, and Cyclical Investment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 98(1), pages 85-106.
    6. Daniel Dreßler & Michael Overesch, 2013. "Investment impact of tax loss treatment—empirical insights from a panel of multinationals," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 20(3), pages 513-543, June.
    7. Avinash K. Dixit & Robert S. Pindyck, 1994. "Investment under Uncertainty," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 5474.
    8. John R. Graham & Michelle Hanlon & Terry Shevlin & Nemit Shroff, 2017. "Tax Rates and Corporate Decision-making," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 30(9), pages 3128-3175.
    9. Alan J. Auerbach, 1986. "The Dynamic Effects of Tax Law Asymmetries," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 53(2), pages 205-225.
    10. Robert McDonald & Daniel Siegel, 1986. "The Value of Waiting to Invest," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 101(4), pages 707-727.
    11. Wagner, Alexander F. & Zeckhauser, Richard J. & Ziegler, Alexandre, 2018. "Company stock price reactions to the 2016 election shock: Trump, taxes, and trade," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(2), pages 428-451.
    12. Titman, Sheridan, 1985. "Urban Land Prices under Uncertainty," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(3), pages 505-514, June.
    13. Vadim Arkin & Alexander Slastnikov, 2007. "The effect of depreciation allowances on the timing of investment and government tax revenue," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 151(1), pages 307-323, April.
    14. Joao F. Gomes, 2001. "Financing Investment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(5), pages 1263-1285, December.
    15. Metcalf, Gilbert E. & Hassett, Kevin A., 1995. "Investment under alternative return assumptions Comparing random walks and mean reversion," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 19(8), pages 1471-1488, November.
    16. Andrew B. Abel & Janice C. Eberly, 1996. "Optimal Investment with Costly Reversibility," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 63(4), pages 581-593.
    17. Svetlana Boyarchenko, 2004. "Irreversible Decisions and Record-Setting News Principles," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(3), pages 557-568, June.
    18. Eli Amir & Michael Kirschenheiter & Kristen Willard, 1997. "The Valuation of Deferred Taxes," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 14(4), pages 597-622, December.
    19. Hanlon, Michelle & Heitzman, Shane, 2010. "A review of tax research," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 127-178, December.
    20. Sarkar, Sudipto, 2003. "The effect of mean reversion on investment under uncertainty," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 377-396, November.
    21. Masanori Orihara, 2015. "Tax loss carryforwards and corporate behavior," Discussion papers ron271, Policy Research Institute, Ministry of Finance Japan.
    22. Ernesto Mordecki, 2002. "Optimal stopping and perpetual options for Lévy processes," Finance and Stochastics, Springer, vol. 6(4), pages 473-493.
    23. Amir, E. & Kirschenheiter, M. & Willard, K., 1997. "Firm Valuation with Deferred Taxes: A Theoretical Framework," Papers 97-13, Columbia - Graduate School of Business.
    24. Eric Zwick & James Mahon, 2017. "Tax Policy and Heterogeneous Investment Behavior," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(1), pages 217-248, January.
    25. John R. Graham, 2003. "Taxes and Corporate Finance: A Review," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 16(4), pages 1075-1129.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Strebulaev, Ilya A. & Whited, Toni M., 2012. "Dynamic Models and Structural Estimation in Corporate Finance," Foundations and Trends(R) in Finance, now publishers, vol. 6(1–2), pages 1-163, November.
    2. Tarun Sabarwal, 2005. "The non-neutrality of debt in investment timing: a new NPV rule," Annals of Finance, Springer, vol. 1(4), pages 433-445, October.
    3. Glover, Brent & Levine, Oliver, 2015. "Uncertainty, investment, and managerial incentives," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 121-137.
    4. Miao, Jianjun & Wang, Neng, 2007. "Investment, consumption, and hedging under incomplete markets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(3), pages 608-642, December.
    5. Tsekrekos, Andrianos E., 2010. "The effect of mean reversion on entry and exit decisions under uncertainty," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 725-742, April.
    6. Bolton, Patrick & Wang, Neng & Yang, Jinqiang, 2019. "Investment under uncertainty with financial constraints," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    7. Huberts, Nick F.D. & Rossi Silveira, Rafael, 2023. "How economic depreciation shapes the relationship of uncertainty with investments’ size & timing," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    8. Patrick Bolton & Hui Chen & Neng Wang, 2011. "A Unified Theory of Tobin's q, Corporate Investment, Financing, and Risk Management," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(5), pages 1545-1578, October.
    9. Suresh M. Sundaresan, 2000. "Continuous‐Time Methods in Finance: A Review and an Assessment," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(4), pages 1569-1622, August.
    10. Ferrari, Giorgio & Salminen, Paavo, 2016. "Irreversible Investment under Lévy Uncertainty: an Equation for the Optimal Boundary," Center for Mathematical Economics Working Papers 530, Center for Mathematical Economics, Bielefeld University.
    11. Laarni T. Bulan, 2005. "Real options, irreversible investment and firm uncertainty: New evidence from U.S. firms," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 14(3-4), pages 255-279.
    12. Bolton, Patrick & Li, Ye & Wang, Neng & Yang, Jinqiang, 2020. "Dynamic Banking and the Value of Deposits," Working Paper Series 2020-13, Ohio State University, Charles A. Dice Center for Research in Financial Economics.
    13. Andrianos Tsekrekos, 2013. "Irreversible exit decisions under mean-reverting uncertainty," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 110(1), pages 5-23, September.
    14. Sarkar, Sudipto, 2021. "The uncertainty-investment relationship with endogenous capacity," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    15. Chirinko, Robert S. & Schaller, Huntley, 2009. "The irreversibility premium," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(3), pages 390-408, April.
    16. Miao, Jianjun & Wang, Neng, 2011. "Risk, uncertainty, and option exercise," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 442-461, April.
    17. Cristian Carini & Michele Moretto & Paolo M. Panteghini & Sergio Vergalli, 2020. "Deferred taxation under default risk," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 129(1), pages 33-48, January.
    18. Bulan, Laarni T., 2005. "Real options, irreversible investment and firm uncertainty: New evidence from U.S. firms," Review of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(3-4), pages 255-279.
    19. Shibata, Takashi & Wong, Kit Pong, 2019. "Investment under uncertainty with variable costly reversibility," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 14-28.
    20. Lukas, Elmar & Thiergart, Sascha, 2019. "The interaction of debt financing, cash grants and the optimal investment policy under uncertainty," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 276(1), pages 284-299.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Irreversible investment; Tax loss carryforwards; Embedded option;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G31 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Capital Budgeting; Fixed Investment and Inventory Studies
    • E22 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Investment; Capital; Intangible Capital; Capacity
    • 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:spr:mathfi:v:16:y:2022:i:3:d:10.1007_s11579-022-00318-4. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.