IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hhs/iuiwop/0841.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Does the Debt Tax Shield Distort Ownership Efficiency?

Author

Listed:

Abstract

The tax laws of most developed countries are debt biased since firms can deduct interest on debt but not on equity. This bias is known to distort investment decisions. However, less is known about how the debt tax shield affects the ownership of assets when bidders differ financial expertise and thus in optimal use of leverage. We show that the debt tax shield need not always distort ownership efficiency. Assets end up with the socially preferred owner when differences in financial and productive expertise between bidders are small and better financial expertise reduces expected bankruptcy costs.

Suggested Citation

  • Norbäck, Pehr-Johan & Persson, Lars & Tåg, Joacim, 2010. "Does the Debt Tax Shield Distort Ownership Efficiency?," Working Paper Series 841, Research Institute of Industrial Economics, revised 22 Sep 2017.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:0841
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.ifn.se/wfiles/wp/wp841.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gordon, Roger H & Bovenberg, A Lans, 1996. "Why Is Capital So Immobile Internationally? Possible Explanations and Implications for Capital Income Taxation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(5), pages 1057-1075, December.
    2. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1992. "Liquidation Values and Debt Capacity: A Market Equilibrium Approach," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(4), pages 1343-1366, September.
    3. Ulf Axelson & Tim Jenkinson & Per Strömberg & Michael S. Weisbach, 2013. "Borrow Cheap, Buy High? The Determinants of Leverage and Pricing in Buyouts," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 68(6), pages 2223-2267, December.
    4. Farrell, Joseph & Shapiro, Carl, 1990. "Horizontal Mergers: An Equilibrium Analysis," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(1), pages 107-126, March.
    5. Andreas Haufler & Christian Schulte, 2007. "Merger Policy and Tax Competition," CESifo Working Paper Series 2157, CESifo.
    6. Persson, Lars & Norbäck, Pehr-Johan & Tåg, Joacim, 2012. "Buying to Sell: Private Equity Buyouts and Industrial Restructuring," CEPR Discussion Papers 8992, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    7. Desai, Mihir A. & Hines, James R. Jr., 2004. "Old Rules and New Realities: Corporate Tax Policy in a Global Setting," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 57(4), pages 937-960, December.
    8. Kathleen M Dunne & Gordian A Ndubizu, 1995. "International Acquisition Accounting Method and Corporate Multinationalism: Evidence from Foreign Acquisitions," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 26(2), pages 361-377, June.
    9. Landsman, Wayne R. & Shackelford, Douglas A., 1995. "The Lock-In Effect of Capital Gains Taxes: Evidence from the RJR Nabisco Leveraged Buyout," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 48(2), pages 245-259, June.
    10. Schindler, Dirk & Schjelderup, Guttorm, 2012. "Debt shifting and ownership structure," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(4), pages 635-647.
    11. Becker, Johannes & Fuest, Clemens, 2011. "Source versus residence based taxation with international mergers and acquisitions," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(1), pages 28-40.
    12. Haufler, Andreas & Runkel, Marco, 2012. "Firms' financial choices and thin capitalization rules under corporate tax competition," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(6), pages 1087-1103.
    13. Graham, John R., 2006. "A Review of Taxes and Corporate Finance," Foundations and Trends(R) in Finance, now publishers, vol. 1(7), pages 573-691, September.
    14. Albert Banal‐Estañol & Marco Ottaviani, 2006. "Mergers with Product Market Risk," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(3), pages 577-608, September.
    15. Pehr-Johan Norbäck & Lars Persson & Jonas Vlachos, 2009. "Cross-border acquisitions and taxes: efficiency and tax revenues," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 42(4), pages 1473-1500, November.
    16. Michael P. Devereux, 2008. "Taxation of outbound direct investment: economic principles and tax policy considerations," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 24(4), pages 698-719, winter.
    17. Alan J. Auerbach, 1988. "Corporate Takeovers: Causes and Consequences," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number auer88-1, July.
    18. Giacinta Cestone & Chiara Fumagalli, 2005. "The Strategic Impact of Resource Flexibility in Business Groups," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 36(4), pages 193-214, Winter.
    19. Schipper, Katherine & Smith, Abbie, 1991. "Effects of Management Buyouts on Corporate Interest and Depreciation Tax Deductions," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(2), pages 295-341, October.
    20. Pehr-Johan Norbäck & Lars Persson, 2009. "The Organization of the Innovation Industry: Entrepreneurs, Venture Capitalists, and Oligopolists," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 7(6), pages 1261-1290, December.
    21. Steven N. Kaplan & Per Stromberg, 2009. "Leveraged Buyouts and Private Equity," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 23(1), pages 121-146, Winter.
    22. Kaplan, Steven, 1989. " Management Buyouts: Evidence on Taxes as a," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 44(3), pages 611-632, July.
    23. Becker, Johannes & Fuest, Clemens, 2011. "Tax competition -- Greenfield investment versus mergers and acquisitions," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(5), pages 476-486, September.
    24. Erik Devos & Palani-Rajan Kadapakkam & Srinivasan Krishnamurthy, 2009. "How Do Mergers Create Value? A Comparison of Taxes, Market Power, and Efficiency Improvements as Explanations for Synergies," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(3), pages 1179-1211, March.
    25. Zhiguo He & Gregor Matvos, 2016. "Debt and Creative Destruction: Why Could Subsidizing Corporate Debt Be Optimal?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 62(2), pages 303-325, February.
    26. Landsman, Wayne R. & Shackelford, Douglas A., 1995. "The Lock-in Effect of Capital Gains Taxes: Evidence From the RJR Nabisco Leveraged Buyout," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 48(2), pages 245-259, June.
    27. Hayne E. Leland, 2007. "Financial Synergies and the Optimal Scope of the Firm: Implications for Mergers, Spinoffs, and Structured Finance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 62(2), pages 765-807, April.
    28. Johannes Becker & Clemens Fuest, 2010. "Taxing Foreign Profits With International Mergers And Acquisitions," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 51(1), pages 171-186, February.
    29. Ulf Axelson & Tim Jenkinson & Per Strömberg & Michael S. Weisbach, 2008. "Leverage and Pricing in Buyouts: An Empirical Analysis," OFRC Working Papers Series 2008fe20, Oxford Financial Research Centre.
    30. Egger, Peter & Eggert, Wolfgang & Keuschnigg, Christian & Winner, Hannes, 2010. "Corporate taxation, debt financing and foreign-plant ownership," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 96-107, January.
    31. Alan J. Auerbach & David Reishus, 1988. "The Effects of Taxation on the Merger Decision," NBER Chapters, in: Corporate Takeovers: Causes and Consequences, pages 157-190, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    32. Chang, Ya-Kai & Chen, Yu-Lun & Chou, Robin K. & Huang, Tai-Hsin, 2015. "Corporate governance, product market competition and dynamic capital structure," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 44-55.
    33. Almazan, Andres & de Motta, Adolfo & Titman, Sheridan, 2015. "Debt, labor markets, and the creation and destruction of firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(3), pages 636-657.
    34. Brander, James A. & Lewis, Tracy R., 1986. "Oligopoly and Financial Structure: The Limited Liability Effect," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(5), pages 956-970, December.
    35. Ruud A. De Mooij, 2012. "Tax Biases to Debt Finance: Assessing the Problem, Finding Solutions," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 33(4), pages 489-512, December.
    36. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    37. Steven Kaplan, 1989. "Management Buyouts: Evidence on Taxes as a Source of Value," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 44(3), pages 611-632, July.
    38. Hayn, Carla, 1989. "Tax attributes as determinants of shareholder gains in corporate acquisitions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 121-153, June.
    39. Giacinta Cestone & Chiara Fumagalli, 2005. "The Strategic Impact of Resource Flexibility in Business Groups," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 36(1), pages 193-214, Spring.
    40. James A. Brander & Tracy R. Lewis, 1988. "Bankruptcy Costs and the Theory of Oligopoly," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 21(2), pages 221-243, May.
    41. Landsman, Wayne R. & Shackelford, Douglas A. & Yetman, Robert J., 2002. "The determinants of capital gains tax compliance: evidence from the RJR Nabisco leveraged buyout," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(1), pages 47-74, April.
    42. Sharon Katz, 2008. "Earnings Quality and Ownership Structure: The Role of Private Equity Sponsors," NBER Working Papers 14085, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    43. Deen Kemsley & Doron Nissim, 2002. "Valuation of the Debt Tax Shield," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(5), pages 2045-2073, October.
    44. Ruud A. De Mooij, 2012. "Tax Biases to Debt Finance: Assessing the Problem, Finding Solutions," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 33(4), pages 489-512, December.
    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. Chiarella, Carlo & Ostinelli, Diego, 2020. "Financial or strategic buyers: Who is at the gate?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 393-407.

    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. Sjögren, Anna, 2010. "Graded children – evidence of longrun consequences of school grades from a nationwide reform," Working Paper Series 2010:7, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    2. Hanlon, Michelle & Heitzman, Shane, 2010. "A review of tax research," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 127-178, December.
    3. Chiara Fumagalli & Massimo Motta & Emanuele Tarantino, 2020. "Shelving or Developing? The Acquisition of Potential Competitors under Financial Constraints," Working Papers 1197, Barcelona School of Economics.
    4. Reddy, Kotapati Srinivasa, 2015. "Determinants of Cross-border Mergers and Acquisitions: A Comprehensive Review and Future Direction," MPRA Paper 63969, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2015.
    5. Henrekson, Magnus & Sanandaji, Tino, 2016. "Owner-Level Taxes and Business Activity," Foundations and Trends(R) in Entrepreneurship, now publishers, vol. 12(1), pages 1-94, March.
    6. Becker, Johannes & Fuest, Clemens, 2011. "Source versus residence based taxation with international mergers and acquisitions," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(1), pages 28-40.
    7. Norbäck, Pehr-Johan & Persson, Lars & Tåg, Joacim, 2010. "Buying to Sell: A Theory of Buyouts," Working Paper Series 817, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    8. Ann†Kristin Achleitner & André Betzer & Marc Goergen & Bastian Hinterramskogler, 2013. "Private Equity Acquisitions of Continental European Firms: the Impact of Ownership and Control on the Likelihood of Being Taken Private," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 19(1), pages 72-107, January.
    9. Andrew Metrick & Ayako Yasuda, 2011. "Venture Capital and Other Private Equity: a Survey," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 17(4), pages 619-654, September.
    10. Benjamin C. Ayers & Craig E. Lefanowicz & John R. Robinson, 2007. "Capital Gains Taxes and Acquisition Activity: Evidence of the Lock†in Effect," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(2), pages 315-344, June.
    11. 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.
    12. Ghosh, Aloke & Jain, Prem C., 2000. "Financial leverage changes associated with corporate mergers," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 6(4), pages 377-402, December.
    13. Lang, Mark H. & Shackelford, Douglas A., 2000. "Capitalization of capital gains taxes: evidence from stock price reactions to the 1997 rate reduction," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(1), pages 69-85, April.
    14. Aron Berg & Pehr-Johan Norbäck & Lars Persson, 2017. "Cross-border mergers & acquisitions with financially constrained owners," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 153(3), pages 433-456, August.
    15. Grupp, Marcel & Rauch, Christian & Umber, Marc P. & Walz, Uwe, 2015. "The influence of leveraged buyouts on target firms' competitors," SAFE Working Paper Series 99, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE.
    16. Hines Jr., James R., 2010. "Income misattribution under formula apportionment," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 108-120, January.
    17. William R. Pratt & Gustavo A. Barboza & Matthew Brigida, 2023. "Leverage and firm value," Economic Notes, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA, vol. 52(2), July.
    18. Dyaran Bansraj & Han Smit & Vadym Volosovych, 2020. "Can Private Equity Funds Act as Strategic Buyers? Evidence from Buy-and-Build Strategies," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 20-041/IV, Tinbergen Institute.
    19. Ulf Axelson & Per Strömberg & Michael S. Weisbach, 2009. "Why Are Buyouts Levered? The Financial Structure of Private Equity Funds," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(4), pages 1549-1582, August.
    20. Johannes Becker & Clemens Fuest, 2010. "Taxing Foreign Profits With International Mergers And Acquisitions," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 51(1), pages 171-186, February.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Acquisitions; Capital Gains Tax; Corporate Tax; LBOs; Mergers and Acquisitions; Ownership; Private Equity; Tax Shields;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D20 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - General
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G33 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Bankruptcy; Liquidation
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • H32 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Firm
    • L19 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Other
    • L22 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Organization and Market Structure

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:hhs:iuiwop:0841. 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: Elisabeth Gustafsson (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iuiiise.html .

    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.