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China’s value-added tax reform, firm behavior and performance

Author

Listed:
  • Huihua Nie

  • Mingyue Fang
  • Tao Li

Abstract

China reformed value-added tax (VAT) by removing investment from the tax base in northeastern provinces in 2004, which is a “natural experiment” of its tax system. Using difference-in-differences method, this paper for the first time investigates the impact of VAT reform on China firms’ fixed asset investment, employment behavior, innovative activities, and productivity, and furthermore discusses the impact of firm behavior on industrial structural upgrade and employment with a firm-level panel data of large and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises in China. We find that VAT reform significantly promotes firms’fixed asset investment, and increases firms’capital-labor ratio and productivity; while enhancement of firms’ productivity is mainly achieved by means of substituting labor with capital, rather than independent technology innovation; meanwhile, VAT reform distinctly decreases employment. Our findings have essential policy implications on the extension of VAT reform in the entire China.
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Suggested Citation

  • Huihua Nie & Mingyue Fang & Tao Li, 2010. "China’s value-added tax reform, firm behavior and performance," Frontiers of Economics in China, Springer;Higher Education Press, vol. 5(3), pages 445-463, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:frecch:v:5:y:2010:i:3:p:445-463
    DOI: 10.1007/s11459-010-0107-z
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Hassett, Kevin A. & Hubbard, R. Glenn, 2002. "Tax policy and business investment," Handbook of Public Economics, in: A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), Handbook of Public Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 20, pages 1293-1343, Elsevier.
    2. Philippe Aghion & Nick Bloom & Richard Blundell & Rachel Griffith & Peter Howitt, 2005. "Competition and Innovation: an Inverted-U Relationship," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(2), pages 701-728.
    3. Susan Athey & Guido W. Imbens, 2006. "Identification and Inference in Nonlinear Difference-in-Differences Models," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 74(2), pages 431-497, March.
    4. Marianne Bertrand & Esther Duflo & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2004. "How Much Should We Trust Differences-In-Differences Estimates?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(1), pages 249-275.
    5. Rafael Di Tella & Ernesto Schargrodsky, 2004. "Do Police Reduce Crime? Estimates Using the Allocation of Police Forces After a Terrorist Attack," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(1), pages 115-133, March.
    6. Shoup, Carl S, 1988. "The Value Added Tax and Developing Countries," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 3(2), pages 139-156, July.
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    Cited by:

    1. Saeed Solaymani, 2020. "Assessing the economic and social impacts of fiscal policies," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 47(3), pages 671-694, March.
    2. Wang D., 2013. "The impact of the 2009 value added tax reform on enterprise investment and employment ‐ Empirical analysis based on Chinese tax survey data," MERIT Working Papers 2013-059, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    3. Fang, Hongsheng & Bao, Yuxin & Zhang, Jun, 2017. "Asymmetric reform bonus: The impact of VAT pilot expansion on China's corporate total tax burden," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(S), pages 17-34.
    4. Jiayi Du & Guangjun Shen & Jingxian Zou, 2023. "Tax incentives and firm financing structures: evidence from China’s accelerated depreciation policy," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 30(5), pages 1346-1373, October.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • L21 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Business Objectives of the Firm
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand

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