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How Much Do R&D Tax Credits Affect R&D Expenditures? Japanese tax credit reform in 2003

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  • KASAHARA Hiroyuki
  • SHIMOTSU Katsumi
  • SUZUKI Michio

Abstract

How much do tax credits affect firms' R&D activities? What are the mechanisms? Few empirical studies directly examine the effect of tax credit policies on firms' R&D investments and the importance of financial constraints on the policy effects on R&D. This paper examines the effect of the Japanese tax credit reform in 2003 on firms' R&D investments by exploiting cross-firm variation in the changes in the effective tax credit rate between 2002 and 2003. Regression results suggest a significantly positive effect of the change in the effective tax credit rate on corporate R&D investments. Across different specifications, the estimated (semi-) elasticity of R&D investments with respect to the effective tax credit rate is 2.3 with an approximate standard error of 0.6. We also examine the policy implications of financial constraints on R&D investments and find that the effect of tax credits is significantly larger for firms with relatively large outstanding debt.

Suggested Citation

  • KASAHARA Hiroyuki & SHIMOTSU Katsumi & SUZUKI Michio, 2011. "How Much Do R&D Tax Credits Affect R&D Expenditures? Japanese tax credit reform in 2003," Discussion papers 11072, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    • Handle: RePEc:eti:dpaper:11072
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Yohei Kobayashi, 2014. "Effect of R&D tax credits for SMEs in Japan: a microeconometric analysis focused on liquidity constraints," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 42(2), pages 311-327, February.

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