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Firms, Trade and Profit Shifting: Evidence from Aggregate Data

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  • Sébastien Laffitte
  • Farid Toubal

Abstract

Using aggregate data on U.S. multinational firms’ activities, we document the impact of tax havens on the organization and trade of multinational firms. Conventional wisdom says that MNEs set up foreign sales platforms close to large markets to benefit from the proximity to consumers. We show, both theoretically and empirically, that the tax environment plays an important role in explaining the location of the foreign sales platforms. We document that foreign sales platforms in tax havens fuel profit shifting especially in services industries. We shed lights on the attractiveness of different tax havens for distinctive sectoral activities. The back-of-the-envelope computation shows that profit shifting by foreign sales platforms in tax haven amounts to $83bn in 2013.

Suggested Citation

  • Sébastien Laffitte & Farid Toubal, 2018. "Firms, Trade and Profit Shifting: Evidence from Aggregate Data," CESifo Working Paper Series 7171, CESifo Group Munich.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_7171
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    File URL: https://www.cesifo-group.de/DocDL/cesifo1_wp7171.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Katarzyna Bilicka & Clemens Fuest, 2014. "With which countries do tax havens share information?," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 21(2), pages 175-197, April.
    2. Shafik Hebous & Niels Johannesen, 2015. "At Your Service! The Role of Tax Havens in International Trade with Services," CESifo Working Paper Series 5414, CESifo Group Munich.
    3. Anca D. Cristea & Daniel X. Nguyen, 2016. "Transfer Pricing by Multinational Firms: New Evidence from Foreign Firm Ownerships," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 8(3), pages 170-202, August.
    4. Dowd, Tim & Landefeld, Paul & Moore, Anne, 2017. "Profit shifting of U.S. multinationals," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 1-13.
    5. Javier Garcia-Bernardo & Jan Fichtner & Eelke M. Heemskerk & Frank W. Takes, 2017. "Uncovering Offshore Financial Centers: Conduits and Sinks in the Global Corporate Ownership Network," Papers 1703.03016, arXiv.org, revised May 2017.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    More about this item

    Keywords

    foreign platforms; tax havens; profit shifting; firms’ organization;

    JEL classification:

    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance

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