IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/fininn/v7y2021i1d10.1186_s40854-021-00235-3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does access to credit reduce SMEs’ tax avoidance? Evidence from a regression discontinuity design

Author

Listed:
  • Xiaowei Kong

    (Dongguan University of Technology)

  • Deng-Kui Si

    (Qingdao University)

  • Haiyang Li

    (Zhongnan University of Economics and Law)

  • Dongmin Kong

    (Huazhong University of Science and Technology)

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of targeted reserve requirement ratio cuts (TRRRCs) on tax avoidance among small and micro enterprises (SMEs) with operating revenues below specific cutoffs in China. Using a regression discontinuity design, we causally show that, by increasing loan availability, TRRRCs significantly alleviate the financial constraints and cash dependence of SMEs and consequently reduce tax avoidance. This is especially the case among firms with lower market power and higher entertainment and travel costs. Our findings provide evidence for the real effect of TRRRCs on corporate tax avoidance and show the inclusive effect of TRRRCs on SMEs. In doing so, we indirectly reveal a rent-seeking channel underlying bank lending, thus offering clear policy implications for regulators.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiaowei Kong & Deng-Kui Si & Haiyang Li & Dongmin Kong, 2021. "Does access to credit reduce SMEs’ tax avoidance? Evidence from a regression discontinuity design," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 7(1), pages 1-23, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:fininn:v:7:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1186_s40854-021-00235-3
    DOI: 10.1186/s40854-021-00235-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1186/s40854-021-00235-3
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1186/s40854-021-00235-3?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chen, Shuping & Chen, Xia & Cheng, Qiang & Shevlin, Terry, 2010. "Are family firms more tax aggressive than non-family firms?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(1), pages 41-61, January.
    2. Laurent Bach, 2014. "Are Small Businesses Worthy of Financial Aid? Evidence from a French Targeted Credit Program," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 18(3), pages 877-919.
    3. Yiming Hu & Mingxia Xu, 2019. "China’s anti-corruption campaign, political connections and private firms’ debt financing," China Finance Review International, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 9(4), pages 521-553, August.
    4. Sebastian Calonico & Matias D. Cattaneo & Max H. Farrell & Rocío Titiunik, 2019. "Regression Discontinuity Designs Using Covariates," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 101(3), pages 442-451, July.
    5. David S. Lee & Thomas Lemieux, 2010. "Regression Discontinuity Designs in Economics," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 48(2), pages 281-355, June.
    6. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2014_003 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Allen, Franklin & Qian, Jun & Qian, Meijun, 2005. "Law, finance, and economic growth in China," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(1), pages 57-116, July.
    8. Sebastian Calonico & Matias D. Cattaneo & Rocio Titiunik, 2014. "Robust Nonparametric Confidence Intervals for Regression‐Discontinuity Designs," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 82, pages 2295-2326, November.
    9. Tara Rice & Philip E. Strahan, 2010. "Does Credit Competition Affect Small‐Firm Finance?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(3), pages 861-889, June.
    10. Abhijit V. Banerjee & Esther Duflo, 2014. "Do Firms Want to Borrow More? Testing Credit Constraints Using a Directed Lending Program," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 81(2), pages 572-607.
    11. Long Wu & Lei Xu, 2020. "Venture capital certification of small and medium‐sized enterprises towards banks: evidence from China," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 60(2), pages 1601-1633, June.
    12. Sean Cleary, 1999. "The Relationship between Firm Investment and Financial Status," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(2), pages 673-692, April.
    13. Berger, Allen N. & Udell, Gregory F., 2006. "A more complete conceptual framework for SME finance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(11), pages 2945-2966, November.
    14. Luo, Jinbo & Ni, Xiaoran & Tian, Gary Gang, 2020. "Short selling and corporate tax avoidance: Insights from a financial constraint view," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    15. repec:bla:jfinan:v:59:y:2004:i:4:p:1777-1804 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Chaoying Lin & Lerong He & Guangqing Yang, 0. "Targeted monetary policy and financing constraints of Chinese small businesses," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-18.
    17. R. Glenn Hubbard, 1998. "Capital-Market Imperfections and Investment," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(1), pages 193-225, March.
    18. Richardson, Grant & Lanis, Roman & Taylor, Grantley, 2015. "Financial distress, outside directors and corporate tax aggressiveness spanning the global financial crisis: An empirical analysis," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 112-129.
    19. Hongbin Cai & Hanming Fang & Lixin Colin Xu, 2011. "Eat, Drink, Firms, Government: An Investigation of Corruption from the Entertainment and Travel Costs of Chinese Firms," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 54(1), pages 55-78.
    20. Guido Imbens & Karthik Kalyanaraman, 2012. "Optimal Bandwidth Choice for the Regression Discontinuity Estimator," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 79(3), pages 933-959.
    21. Graham, John R. & Tucker, Alan L., 2006. "Tax shelters and corporate debt policy," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(3), pages 563-594, September.
    22. Charles J. Hadlock & Joshua R. Pierce, 2010. "New Evidence on Measuring Financial Constraints: Moving Beyond the KZ Index," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(5), pages 1909-1940.
    23. Desai, Mihir A. & Dharmapala, Dhammika, 2006. "Corporate tax avoidance and high-powered incentives," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(1), pages 145-179, January.
    24. Wilbert van der Klaauw, 2002. "Estimating the Effect of Financial Aid Offers on College Enrollment: A Regression-Discontinuity Approach," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 43(4), pages 1249-1287, November.
    25. Sudheer Chava & Michael R. Roberts, 2008. "How Does Financing Impact Investment? The Role of Debt Covenants," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(5), pages 2085-2121, October.
    26. Imbens, Guido W. & Lemieux, Thomas, 2008. "Regression discontinuity designs: A guide to practice," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 615-635, February.
    27. Hasan, Iftekhar & Hoi, Chun Keung (Stan) & Wu, Qiang & Zhang, Hao, 2014. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder: The effect of corporate tax avoidance on the cost of bank loans," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(1), pages 109-130.
    28. Xiaoqiang Hu & Fabio Schiantarelli, 1998. "Investment And Capital Market Imperfections: A Switching Regression Approach Using U.S. Firm Panel Data," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 80(3), pages 466-479, August.
    29. James R. Brown & Steven M. Fazzari & Bruce C. Petersen, 2009. "Financing Innovation and Growth: Cash Flow, External Equity, and the 1990s R&D Boom," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(1), pages 151-185, February.
    30. Jing Cai & Yuyu Chen & Xuan Wang, 2018. "The Impact of Corporate Taxes on Firm Innovation: Evidence from the Corporate Tax Collection Reform in China," NBER Working Papers 25146, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    31. Beck, Thorsten & Demirguc-Kunt, Asli, 2006. "Small and medium-size enterprises: Access to finance as a growth constraint," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(11), pages 2931-2943, November.
    32. Chang, Chun & Liu, Zheng & Spiegel, Mark M. & Zhang, Jingyi, 2019. "Reserve requirements and optimal Chinese stabilization policy," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 33-51.
    33. Pan, Yao & Singhal, Saurabh, 2019. "Agricultural extension, intra-household allocation and malaria," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 157-170.
    34. DeAngelo, Harry & Masulis, Ronald W., 1980. "Optimal capital structure under corporate and personal taxation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 3-29, March.
    35. Karthik Krishnan & Debarshi K. Nandy & Manju Puri, 2015. "Does Financing Spur Small Business Productivity? Evidence from a Natural Experiment," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 28(6), pages 1768-1809.
    36. Meng, Lingsheng, 2013. "Evaluating China's poverty alleviation program: A regression discontinuity approach," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 1-11.
    37. Michael Faulkender & Rong Wang, 2006. "Corporate Financial Policy and the Value of Cash," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(4), pages 1957-1990, August.
    38. McCrary, Justin, 2008. "Manipulation of the running variable in the regression discontinuity design: A density test," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 698-714, February.
    39. Chen, Yunling & Liu, Ming & Su, Jun, 2013. "Greasing the wheels of bank lending: Evidence from private firms in China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(7), pages 2533-2545.
    40. Jiaming Zhang & Xiangrong Deng, 2020. "Interest rate liberalization and bank liquidity creation: evidence from China," China Finance Review International, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 10(4), pages 377-391, March.
    41. Hahn, Jinyong & Todd, Petra & Van der Klaauw, Wilbert, 2001. "Identification and Estimation of Treatment Effects with a Regression-Discontinuity Design," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 69(1), pages 201-209, January.
    42. Kelvin K. F. Law & Lillian F. Mills, 2015. "Taxes and Financial Constraints: Evidence from Linguistic Cues," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(4), pages 777-819, September.
    43. A. P. Lerner, 1934. "The Concept of Monopoly and the Measurement of Monopoly Power," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 1(3), pages 157-175.
    44. Zhang, Zilong, 2019. "Bank Interventions and Trade Credit: Evidence from Debt Covenant Violations," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 54(5), pages 2179-2207, October.
    45. Jianjun Jia & Lili Shao & Zhenzhen Sun & Fang Zhao, 2020. "Corporate cash savings and discretionary accruals," China Finance Review International, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 10(4), pages 429-445, April.
    46. Chemmanur, Thomas J. & Tian, Xuan, 2018. "Do Antitakeover Provisions Spur Corporate Innovation? A Regression Discontinuity Analysis," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 53(3), pages 1163-1194, June.
    47. Joshua D. Angrist & Victor Lavy, 1999. "Using Maimonides' Rule to Estimate the Effect of Class Size on Scholastic Achievement," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(2), pages 533-575.
    48. Zhang, Zilong, 2019. "Bank Interventions and Trade Credit: Evidence from Debt Covenant Violations - ERRATUM," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 54(5), pages 2293-2293, October.
    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. Sunardi Sunardi & Theresia Woro Damayanti & Supramono Supramono & Yustinus Budi Hermanto, 2022. "Gender, Perception of Audits, Access to Finance, and Self-Assessed Corporate Tax Compliance," Economies, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-12, March.
    2. Falavigna, Greta & Ippoliti, Roberto, 2023. "SMEs’ behavior under financial constraints: An empirical investigation on the legal environment and the substitution effect with tax arrears," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    3. Luk Luk Fuadah & Kencana Dewi & Mukhtaruddin Mukhtaruddin & Umi Kalsum & Anton Arisman, 2022. "The Relationship between Sustainability Reporting, E-Commerce, Firm Performance and Tax Avoidance with Organizational Culture as Moderating Variable in Small and Medium Enterprises in Palembang," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-17, March.

    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. Wei Yang & Haiyang Li & Gaowen Kong & Dongmin Kong, 2021. "Access to finance and SMEs’ trade credit: evidence from a regression discontinuity design," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(2), pages 2997-3029, June.
    2. Mauricio Villamizar‐Villegas & Freddy A. Pinzon‐Puerto & Maria Alejandra Ruiz‐Sanchez, 2022. "A comprehensive history of regression discontinuity designs: An empirical survey of the last 60 years," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(4), pages 1130-1178, September.
    3. Blaise Melly & Rafael Lalive, 2020. "Estimation, Inference, and Interpretation in the Regression Discontinuity Design," Diskussionsschriften dp2016, Universitaet Bern, Departement Volkswirtschaft.
    4. Chen, Shenglan & Ma, Hui & Teng, Haimeng & Wu, Qiang, 2022. "Banking liberalization and corporate tax planning: Evidence from natural experiments," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    5. Jin-young Choi & Myoung-jae Lee, 2017. "Regression discontinuity: review with extensions," Statistical Papers, Springer, vol. 58(4), pages 1217-1246, December.
    6. Yoichi Arai & Yu‐Chin Hsu & Toru Kitagawa & Ismael Mourifié & Yuanyuan Wan, 2022. "Testing identifying assumptions in fuzzy regression discontinuity designs," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 13(1), pages 1-28, January.
    7. Deng, Taotao & Hu, Yukun & Ma, Mulan, 2019. "Regional policy and tourism: A quasi-natural experiment," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 1-16.
    8. Montoya, Ana Maria & Noton, Carlos & Solis, Alex, 2018. "The Returns to College Choice: Loans, Scholarships and Labor Outcomes," Working Paper Series 2018:12, Uppsala University, Department of Economics.
    9. Steven F. Koch & Jeffrey S. Racine, 2016. "Healthcare facility choice and user fee abolition: regression discontinuity in a multinomial choice setting," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 179(4), pages 927-950, October.
    10. Yang He & Otávio Bartalotti, 2020. "Wild bootstrap for fuzzy regression discontinuity designs: obtaining robust bias-corrected confidence intervals," The Econometrics Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 23(2), pages 211-231.
    11. Bonfim, Diana & Custódio, Cláudia & Raposo, Clara, 2023. "Supporting small firms through recessions and recoveries," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(3), pages 658-688.
    12. Decio Coviello & Andrea Guglielmo & Giancarlo Spagnolo, 2018. "The Effect of Discretion on Procurement Performance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(2), pages 715-738, February.
    13. Bertanha, Marinho, 2020. "Regression discontinuity design with many thresholds," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 218(1), pages 216-241.
    14. Gary Cornwall & Beau Sauley, 2021. "Indirect effects and causal inference: reconsidering regression discontinuity," Journal of Spatial Econometrics, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 1-28, December.
    15. Angelo D'Andrea, 2019. "Mayor’s wage and Public procurement," BAFFI CAREFIN Working Papers 19125, BAFFI CAREFIN, Centre for Applied Research on International Markets Banking Finance and Regulation, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy.
    16. Perez-Reyna, David & Villamizar-Villegas, Mauricio, 2019. "Exchange rate effects of financial regulations," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 228-245.
    17. Tao Chen & Yi Huang & Chen Lin & Zixia Sheng, 2022. "Finance and Firm Volatility: Evidence from Small Business Lending in China," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(3), pages 2226-2249, March.
    18. Marinho Bertanha & Guido W. Imbens, 2020. "External Validity in Fuzzy Regression Discontinuity Designs," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(3), pages 593-612, July.
    19. Cappelletti, Giuseppe & Ponte Marques, Aurea & Varraso, Paolo & Budrys, Žymantas & Peeters, Jonas, 2019. "Impact of higher capital buffers on banks’ lending and risk-taking: evidence from the euro area experiments," Working Paper Series 2292, European Central Bank.
    20. Guido Imbens & Stefan Wager, 2019. "Optimized Regression Discontinuity Designs," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 101(2), pages 264-278, May.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Access to finance; Small and micro enterprises (SMEs); Tax avoidance; Targeted reserve requirement ratio cuts (TRRRCs);
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • 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:fininn:v:7:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1186_s40854-021-00235-3. 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.