IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/itaxpf/v13y2006i6p643-660.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

To Invest or not to Invest: A real options approach to FDIs and tax competition

Author

Listed:
  • Paolo Panteghini
  • Guttorm Schjelderup

Abstract

Foreign investment decisions of firms are often characterized by investment irreversibility, uncertainty, and the ability to choose the optimal timing of foreign investments. We embed these characteristics into a real option theory framework to analyze international competition among countries to attract mobile investments when firms, after the investment is sunk, can shift profit to low tax countries by transfer pricing. We find that an increase in the uncertainty of profit income reduces the equilibrium tax rates, whilst lower investment costs or larger profits, counteracts the negative fiscal externality of tax competition leading to higher equilibrium tax rates. Copyright Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2006

Suggested Citation

  • Paolo Panteghini & Guttorm Schjelderup, 2006. "To Invest or not to Invest: A real options approach to FDIs and tax competition," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 13(6), pages 643-660, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:itaxpf:v:13:y:2006:i:6:p:643-660
    DOI: 10.1007/s10797-006-6553-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10797-006-6553-y
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10797-006-6553-y?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. Haufler, Andreas & Schjelderup, Guttorm, 2000. "Corporate Tax Systems and Cross Country Profit Shifting," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 52(2), pages 306-325, April.
    2. James R. Markusen, 2004. "Multinational Firms and the Theory of International Trade," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262633078, December.
    3. Hines, James R. Jr., 1999. "Lessons From Behavioral Responses to International Taxation," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 52(2), pages 305-322, June.
    4. Aizenman, Joshua & Marion, Nancy, 2004. "The merits of horizontal versus vertical FDI in the presence of uncertainty," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(1), pages 125-148, January.
    5. Paolo M. Panteghini, 2003. "A dynamic measure of the effective tax rate," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 8(15), pages 1-7.
    6. Wilson, John Douglas, 1999. "Theories of Tax Competition," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 52(2), pages 269-304, June.
    7. Kind, Hans Jarle & Midelfart, Karen Helene & Schjelderup, Guttorm, 2005. "Corporate tax systems, multinational enterprises, and economic integration," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 507-521, March.
    8. Mihir A. Desai & C. Fritz Foley, 2004. "The Comovement of Returns and Investment Within the Multinational Firm," NBER Working Papers 10785, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Avinash K. Dixit & Robert S. Pindyck, 1994. "Investment under Uncertainty," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 5474.
    10. Luis H. R. Alvarez & Vesa Kanniainen, 1997. "Valuation of Irreversible Entry Options under Uncertainty and Taxation," CESifo Working Paper Series 144, CESifo.
    11. 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.
    12. Devereux, Michael P. & Griffith, Rachel, 1998. "Taxes and the location of production: evidence from a panel of US multinationals," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(3), pages 335-367, June.
    13. Wilson, John Douglas & Wildasin, David E., 2004. "Capital tax competition: bane or boon," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(6), pages 1065-1091, June.
    14. George R. Zodrow & Peter Mieszkowski, 2019. "Pigou, Tiebout, Property Taxation, and the Underprovision of Local Public Goods," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: George R Zodrow (ed.), TAXATION IN THEORY AND PRACTICE Selected Essays of George R. Zodrow, chapter 17, pages 525-542, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    15. repec:ebl:ecbull:v:8:y:2003:i:15:p:1-7 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Andreas Haufler & Guttorm Schjelderup, 1999. "Corporate Taxation, Profit Shifting, and the Efficiency of Public Input Provision," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 56(3/4), pages 481-481, July.
    17. Mackie-Mason, Jeffrey K., 1990. "Some nonlinear tax effects on asset values and investment decisions under uncertainty," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 301-327, August.
    18. Graham, John R. & Harvey, Campbell R., 2001. "The theory and practice of corporate finance: evidence from the field," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(2-3), pages 187-243, May.
    19. Paolo Panteghini & Guttorm Schjelderup, 2003. "Competing for Foreign Direct Investments: A Real Options Approach," CESifo Working Paper Series 929, CESifo.
    20. Wilson, John D., 1986. "A theory of interregional tax competition," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 296-315, May.
    21. Thomas A. Gresik, 2001. "The Taxing Task of Taxing Transnationals," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 39(3), pages 800-838, September.
    22. Michael Keen, 1993. "The welfare economics of tax co-ordination in the European Community : a survey," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 14(2), pages 15-36, February.
    23. Michael Devereux, 1992. "The Ruding Committee report : an economic assessment," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 13(2), pages 96-107, May.
    24. Chen, Cherry C. & So, Raymond W., 2002. "Exchange rate variability and the riskiness of US multinational firms: evidence from the Asian financial turmoil," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 12(4-5), pages 411-428.
    25. Hines, James R. Jr., 1999. "Lessons from Behavioral Responses to International Taxation," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 52(n. 2), pages 305-22, June.
    26. Wilson, John Douglas, 1999. "Theories of Tax Competition," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 52(n. 2), pages 269-304, June.
    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. Paolo Panteghini, 2009. "The capital structure of multinational companies under tax competition," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 16(1), pages 59-81, February.
    2. Thomas Gries & Wim Naudé, 2009. "When to Start a New Firm?: Modelling the Timing of Novice and Serial Entrepreneurs," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2009-39, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    3. Mauro Ghinamo & Paolo Panteghini & Federico Revelli, 2010. "FDI determination and corporate tax competition in a volatile world," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 17(5), pages 532-555, October.
    4. R. Miniaci & M. Parisi & P. Panteghini, 2014. "Debt shifting in Europe," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 21(3), pages 397-435, June.
    5. Miniaci Raffaele & Panteghini Paolo M. & Rivolta Giulia, 2022. "The estimation of reaction functions under tax competition," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 23(2), pages 301-339, May.
    6. Kalamov, Zarko Y., 2013. "Risk sharing and the efficiency of public good provision under tax competition," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(4), pages 676-683.
    7. Taiji Furusawa & Kazumi Hori & Ian Wooton, 2015. "A race beyond the bottom: the nature of bidding for a firm," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 22(3), pages 452-475, June.

    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. Paolo Panteghini & Guttorm Schjelderup, 2003. "Competing for Foreign Direct Investments: A Real Options Approach," CESifo Working Paper Series 929, CESifo.
    2. Mauro Ghinamo & Paolo Panteghini & Federico Revelli, 2010. "FDI determination and corporate tax competition in a volatile world," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 17(5), pages 532-555, October.
    3. Krautheim, Sebastian & Schmidt-Eisenlohr, Tim, 2011. "Heterogeneous firms, 'profit shifting' FDI and international tax competition," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(1-2), pages 122-133, February.
    4. AMERIGHI, Oscar, 2004. "Transfer pricing and enforcement policy in oligopolistic markets," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2004069, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    5. Gaëtan Nicodème, 2006. "Corporate tax competition and coordination in the European Union: What do we know? Where do we stand?," European Economy - Economic Papers 2008 - 2015 250, Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission.
    6. Paolo Panteghini, 2009. "The capital structure of multinational companies under tax competition," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 16(1), pages 59-81, February.
    7. O. Amerighi & S. Peralta, 2007. "Exports Versus Horizontal Foreign Direct Investment with Profit Shifting," Working Papers 604, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    8. Devereux, Michael P. & Lockwood, Ben & Redoano, Michela, 2008. "Do countries compete over corporate tax rates?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(5-6), pages 1210-1235, June.
    9. Amerighi, Oscar & Peralta, Susana, 2010. "The proximity-concentration trade-off with profit shifting," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 90-101, July.
    10. Schjelderup, Guttorm & Ulltveit-Moe, Karen Helene & Kind, Hans Jarle, 2002. "Why Corporate Taxes May Rise: The Case of Trade Liberalization and Foreign Ownership," CEPR Discussion Papers 3383, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    11. Peralta, Susana & Wauthy, Xavier & van Ypersele, Tanguy, 2006. "Should countries control international profit shifting?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 24-37, January.
    12. Kind, Hans Jarle & Midelfart, Karen Helene & Schjelderup, Guttorm, 2005. "Corporate tax systems, multinational enterprises, and economic integration," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 507-521, March.
    13. James Alm & H. Spencer Banzhaf, 2012. "Designing Economic Instruments For The Environment In A Decentralized Fiscal System," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 177-202, April.
    14. Kenneth G. Stewart & Michael C. Webb, 2003. "Capital Taxation, Globalization, and International Tax Competition," Econometrics Working Papers 0301, Department of Economics, University of Victoria.
    15. Krishanu Karmakar & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, 2014. "Fiscal Competition versus Fiscal Harmonization: A Review of the Arguments," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper1431, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    16. Schjelderup, Guttorm & Ulltveit-Moe, Karen Helene & Kind, Hans Jarle, 2004. "Trade and Multinationals: The Effect of Economic Integration on Taxation and Tax Revenue," CEPR Discussion Papers 4312, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    17. Yu-Bong Lai, 2014. "Asymmetric tax competition in the presence of lobbying," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 21(1), pages 66-86, February.
    18. George Zodrow, 2006. "Capital Mobility and Source-Based Taxation of Capital Income in Small Open Economies," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 13(2), pages 269-294, May.
    19. Dickescheid, Thomas, 2002. "Steuerwettbewerb und Direktinvestitionen," Beiträge zur Finanzwissenschaft, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, edition 1, volume 16, number urn:isbn:9783161477348, December.
    20. Stöwhase, Sven, 2002. "Profit Shifting opportunities, Multinationals, and the determinants of FDI," Discussion Papers in Economics 29, University of Munich, Department of Economics.

    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:kap:itaxpf:v:13:y:2006:i:6:p:643-660. 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.