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The Effect of the Tax System as an Institutional Factor on the Business Structure in Europe

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  • Bartha, Zoltan

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the influence of tax systems and taxation rules on the firm structure of the 28 European Union member economies. It is argued that higher taxes and more complex tax rules lead to smaller firms, and that, on the other hand reduces macroeconomic perfor-mance. It is found that the firm size and corporate tax rates are negatively correlated in case of medium-sized (R=-0.4; p=0.03) and large (R=-0.41; p=0.03) firms. Indications were found that higher transaction costs caused by taxation lead to smaller firms, as a significant negative correlation was found between the number of hours per year needed to administer tax pay-ments, and the share of large firms (R=-0.41 & p=0.03), and also between KPMG’s comment length (an indicator for tax system complexity) and the share of medium-sized firms’ turnover from the total turnover (R=-0.39 & p=0.045). More complicated tax rules might also cause a smaller proportion of firms to grow quicker, but the significance level of these relationships is not very convincing.

Suggested Citation

  • Bartha, Zoltan, 2015. "The Effect of the Tax System as an Institutional Factor on the Business Structure in Europe," MPRA Paper 68027, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 13 Sep 2015.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:68027
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    3. Dabla-Norris, Era & Gradstein, Mark & Inchauste, Gabriela, 2008. "What causes firms to hide output? The determinants of informality," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(1-2), pages 1-27, February.
    4. Henrekson, Magnus & Johansson, Dan, 1999. "Institutional Effects on the Evolution of the Size Distribution of Firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 11-23, February.
    5. Andrea Vaona & Mario Pianta, 2008. "Firm Size and Innovation in European Manufacturing," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 30(3), pages 283-299, March.
    6. Bartha, Zoltán & S. Gubik, Andrea, 2014. "SME Internalisation Index (SMINI) Based on the Sample of the Visegrad Countries," MPRA Paper 57382, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 10 Jul 2014.
    7. Jim Lee, 2009. "Does Size Matter in Firm Performance? Evidence from US Public Firms," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(2), pages 189-203.
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    Cited by:

    1. Andrea S. Gubik & Szilveszter Farkas, 2016. "Student Entrepreneurship in Hungary: Selected Results Based on GUESSS Survey," Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, Centre for Strategic and International Entrepreneurship at the Cracow University of Economics., vol. 4(4), pages 123-139.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    tax system; tax rate; institutions; firm size;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms

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