IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/eti/dpaper/19099.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Tariff Elimination versus Tax Avoidance: Free Trade Agreements and Transfer Pricing

Author

Listed:
  • Hiroshi MUKUNOKI
  • Hirofumi OKOSHI

Abstract

Free trade agreements (FTAs) entail rules of origin (ROO), which require exporters to identify the origin of exports to prove eligibility for preferential tariff rates. This paper investigated how a multinational enterprise (MNE) in an international oligopoly model reacts to an FTA with ROO when it can manipulate its transfer price for intra-firm trade. Before the formation of an FTA, the MNE uses the transfer price to avoid a high corporate tax or to shift profits from the rival firm in the final-goods market. After the FTA formation, ROO can force the MNE to set the transfer price such that it meets the value-added requirement of ROO, or to change the location of its input production. We show that an FTA with ROO may decrease the profits of both the MNE and the local firm, even when they comply with ROO and take advantage of the tariff elimination provided for in the FTA. Furthermore, there is a case where ROO increase the consumer's gains from an FTA and transform a welfare-reducing FTA into a welfare-improving FTA.

Suggested Citation

  • Hiroshi MUKUNOKI & Hirofumi OKOSHI, 2019. "Tariff Elimination versus Tax Avoidance: Free Trade Agreements and Transfer Pricing," Discussion papers 19099, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    • Handle: RePEc:eti:dpaper:19099
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.rieti.go.jp/jp/publications/dp/19e099.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Paola Conconi & Manuel García-Santana & Laura Puccio & Roberto Venturini, 2018. "From Final Goods to Inputs: The Protectionist Effect of Rules of Origin," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(8), pages 2335-2365, August.
    2. Ayça Tekin‐Koru & Andreas Waldkirch, 2010. "North–South Integration and the Location of Foreign Direct Investment," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(4), pages 696-713, September.
    3. Jiandong Ju & Kala Krishna, 2005. "Firm behaviour and market access in a Free Trade Area with rules of origin," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 38(1), pages 290-308, February.
    4. Fershtman, Chaim & Judd, Kenneth L, 1987. "Equilibrium Incentives in Oligopoly," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(5), pages 927-940, December.
    5. Elitzur, Ramy & Mintz, Jack, 1997. "Corrigendum to "Transfer pricing rules and corporate tax competition": [J. Public Economics, 60 (1996) 401-422]," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 287-287, May.
    6. CHOI, Jay Pil & FURUSAWA, Taiji, 2018. "Transfer Pricing and the Arm's Length Principle under Imperfect Competition," Discussion paper series HIAS-E-73, Hitotsubashi Institute for Advanced Study, Hitotsubashi University.
    7. Ronald B. Davies & Julien Martin & Mathieu Parenti & Farid Toubal, 2018. "Knocking on Tax Haven’s Door: Multinational Firms and Transfer Pricing," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 100(1), pages 120-134, March.
    8. Kazunobu Hayakawa & Daisuke Hiratsuka & Kohei Shiino & Seiya Sukegawa, 2013. "Who Uses Free Trade Agreements?," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 27(3), pages 245-264, September.
    9. Felix Tintelnot, 2017. "Global Production with Export Platforms," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 132(1), pages 157-209.
    10. Bond, Eric W. & Gresik, Thomas A., 2020. "Unilateral tax reform: Border adjusted taxes, cash flow taxes, and transfer pricing," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    11. Rod Falvey & Geoff Reed, 1998. "Economic effects of rules of origin," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 134(2), pages 209-229, June.
    12. Swenson, Deborah L., 2001. "Tax Reforms and Evidence of Transfer Pricing," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 54(1), pages 7-26, March.
    13. Caroline Freund, 2010. "Third‐country Effects of Regional Trade Agreements," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(11), pages 1589-1605, November.
    14. Gordon H. Hanson & Raymond J. Mataloni & Matthew J. Slaughter, 2005. "Vertical Production Networks in Multinational Firms," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(4), pages 664-678, November.
    15. Steven D. Sklivas, 1987. "The Strategic Choice of Managerial Incentives," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 18(3), pages 452-458, Autumn.
    16. Tomiura, Eiichi, 2007. "Foreign outsourcing, exporting, and FDI: A productivity comparison at the firm level," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(1), pages 113-127, May.
    17. Jiandong Ju & Kala Krishna, "undated". "Market Access and Welfare Effects of Free Trade Areas without Rules of Origin," EPRU Working Paper Series 96-03, Economic Policy Research Unit (EPRU), University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics.
    18. Søren Bo Nielsen & Pascalis Raimondos–Møller & Guttorm Schjelderup, 2003. "Formula Apportionment and Transfer Pricing under Oligopolistic Competition," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 5(2), pages 419-437, April.
    19. Caroline Freund & Emanuel Ornelas, 2010. "Regional Trade Agreements," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 2(1), pages 139-166, September.
    20. Jota Ishikawa & Hiroshi Mukunoki & Yoshihiro Mizoguchi, 2007. "Economic Integration And Rules Of Origin Under International Oligopoly," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 48(1), pages 185-210, February.
    21. Clausing, Kimberly A., 2003. "Tax-motivated transfer pricing and US intrafirm trade prices," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(9-10), pages 2207-2223, September.
    22. Søren Bo Nielsen & Pascalis Raimondos‐Møller & Guttorm Schjelderup, 2008. "Taxes and Decision Rights in Multinationals," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 10(2), pages 245-258, April.
    23. Takahashi, Katsuhide & Urata, Shujiro, 2010. "On the Use of FTAs by Japanese Firms: Further Evidence," Business and Politics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(1), pages 1-15, April.
    24. Hiroshi Mukunoki & Hirofumi Okoshi, 2021. "Rules of origin and consumer‐hurting free trade agreements," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(8), pages 2303-2318, August.
    25. Bauer, Christian J. & Langenmayr, Dominika, 2013. "Sorting into outsourcing: Are profits taxed at a gorilla's arm's length?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(2), pages 326-336.
    26. Hiroshi Mukunoki & Hirofumi Okoshi, 2021. "Tariff elimination versus tax avoidance: free trade agreements and transfer pricing," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 28(5), pages 1188-1210, October.
    27. Guttorm Schjelderup & Lars Sorgard, 1997. "Transfer Pricing as a Strategic Device for Decentralized Multinationals," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 4(3), pages 277-290, July.
    28. Peter Reuter, 2012. "Draining Development? Controlling Flows of Illicit Funds from Developing Countries," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2242, April.
    29. 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.
    30. Choe, Chongwoo & Matsushima, Noriaki, 2013. "The arm's length principle and tacit collusion," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 119-130.
    31. Hayato Kato & Hirofumi Okoshi, 2019. "Production location of multinational firms under transfer pricing: the impact of the arm’s length principle," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 26(4), pages 835-871, August.
    32. Kala Krishna & Anne Krueger, 1995. "Implementing Free Trade Areas: Rules of Origin and Hidden Protection," NBER Working Papers 4983, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    33. Felbermayr, Gabriel & Teti, Feodora & Yalcin, Erdal, 2019. "Rules of origin and the profitability of trade deflection," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    34. Caroline Freund & Emanuel Ornelas, 2010. "Regional trade agreements: blessing or burden?," CentrePiece - The magazine for economic performance 313, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    35. Choi, Jay Pil & Furusawa, Taiji & Ishikawa, Jota, 2020. "Transfer pricing regulation and tax competition," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    36. Charles E. Hyde & Chongwoo Choe, 2005. "Keeping Two Sets of Books: The Relationship Between Tax and Incentive Transfer Prices," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(1), pages 165-186, March.
    37. Swenson, Deborah L., 2001. "Tax Reforms and Evidence of Transfer Pricing," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 54(n. 1), pages 7-26, March.
    38. Andrey Stoyanov, 2012. "Tariff evasion and rules of origin violations under the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 45(3), pages 879-902, August.
    39. Chaim Fershtman & Kenneth L. Judd, 2006. "Equilibrium Incentives in Oligopoly: Corrigendum," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(4), pages 1367-1367, September.
    40. Demidova, Svetlana & Krishna, Kala, 2008. "Firm heterogeneity and firm behavior with conditional policies," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 98(2), pages 122-128, February.
    41. Jennifer L. Blouin & Leslie A. Robinson & Jeri K. Seidman, 2018. "Conflicting Transfer Pricing Incentives and the Role of Coordination," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 35(1), pages 87-116, March.
    42. Hiroshi Mukunoki, 2017. "The welfare effect of a free trade agreement in the presence of foreign direct investment and rules of origin," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(4), pages 733-759, September.
    43. Kant, Chander, 1988. "Foreign Subsidiary, Transfer Pricing and Tariffs," MPRA Paper 91947, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    44. Horst, Thomas, 1971. "The Theory of the Multinational Firm: Optimal Behavior under Different Tariff and Tax Rates," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 79(5), pages 1059-1072, Sept.-Oct.
    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. David R. Agrawal & Ronald B. Davies & Sara LaLumia & Nadine Riedel & Kimberley Scharf, 2021. "A snapshot of public finance research from immediately prior to the pandemic: IIPF 2020," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 28(5), pages 1276-1297, October.
    2. Hiroshi Mukunoki & Hirofumi Okoshi, 2021. "Tariff elimination versus tax avoidance: free trade agreements and transfer pricing," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 28(5), pages 1188-1210, October.
    3. Hiroshi Mukunoki & Hirofumi Okoshi, 2021. "Rules of origin and consumer‐hurting free trade agreements," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(8), pages 2303-2318, August.
    4. Jay Pil Choi & Jota Ishikawa & Hirofumi Okoshi, 2024. "Tax havens and cross-border licensing with transfer pricing regulation," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 31(2), pages 333-366, April.
    5. Hiroshi MUKUNOKI & Hirofumi OKOSHI, 2022. "Antidumping on Tax-induced Dumping," Discussion papers 22063, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    6. Hiroshi MUKUNOKI & Hirofumi OKOSHI, 2021. "Wake Not a Sleeping Lion: Free Trade Agreements and Decision Rights in Multinationals," Discussion papers 21036, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).

    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. Hiroshi MUKUNOKI & Hirofumi OKOSHI, 2021. "Wake Not a Sleeping Lion: Free Trade Agreements and Decision Rights in Multinationals," Discussion papers 21036, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    2. Hayato Kato & Hirofumi Okoshi, 2019. "Production location of multinational firms under transfer pricing: the impact of the arm’s length principle," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 26(4), pages 835-871, August.
    3. Hayato Kato & Hirofumi Okoshi, 2022. "Economic Integration And Agglomeration Of Multinational Production With Transfer Pricing," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 63(3), pages 1325-1355, August.
    4. Hiroshi MUKUNOKI & Hirofumi OKOSHI, 2022. "Antidumping on Tax-induced Dumping," Discussion papers 22063, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    5. Hiroshi Mukunoki & Hirofumi Okoshi, 2021. "Rules of origin and consumer‐hurting free trade agreements," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(8), pages 2303-2318, August.
    6. Thomas A. Gresik & Guttorm Schjelderup, 2024. "Transfer pricing under global adoption of destination-based cash-flow taxation," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 31(1), pages 243-261, February.
    7. Thomas A., Gresik & Schjelderup, Guttorm, 2022. "Tax induced transfer pricing under universal adoption of the destination-based cash-flow tax," Discussion Papers 2022/8, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Business and Management Science.
    8. Di Wu & Leonard F. S. Wang & Jie Ma, 2024. "Corporate profit tax, managerial delegation and multinational firm's transfer pricing," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 75(3), pages 326-338, July.
    9. Søren Bo Nielsen & Pascalis Raimondos‐Møller & Guttorm Schjelderup, 2008. "Taxes and Decision Rights in Multinationals," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 10(2), pages 245-258, April.
    10. Lemus Torres, Ana Belén, 2011. "Strategic incentives for kepping one set of books under the Arm's Length Principle," UC3M Working papers. Economics we1135, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Departamento de Economía.
    11. Lemus, Ana B. & Moreno, Diego, 2020. "Strategic incentives for keeping one set of books under the Arm’s Length Principle," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 78-90.
    12. Kohlhase, Saskia & Wielhouwer, Jacco L., 2023. "Tax and tariff planning through transfer prices: The role of the head office and business unit," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(2).
    13. CHOI, Jay Pil & FURUSAWA, Taiji, 2018. "Transfer Pricing and the Arm's Length Principle under Imperfect Competition," Discussion paper series HIAS-E-73, Hitotsubashi Institute for Advanced Study, Hitotsubashi University.
    14. Vincent Vicard, 2015. "Profit shifting through transfer pricing: evidence from French firm level trade data," Working papers 555, Banque de France.
    15. Bodo Knoll & Nadine Riedel, 2015. "Transfer Pricing Laws," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 12(04), pages 22-26, January.
    16. Hiroshi Mukunoki, 2017. "The welfare effect of a free trade agreement in the presence of foreign direct investment and rules of origin," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(4), pages 733-759, September.
    17. Bodo Knoll & Nadine Riedel, 2015. "Transfer Pricing Laws," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 12(4), pages 22-26, 01.
    18. Ludvig Wier, 2018. "Tax-motivated transfer mispricing in South Africa: Direct evidence using transaction data," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2018-123, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    19. Ludvig Wier, 2018. "Tax-motivated transfer mispricing in South Africa: Direct evidence using transaction data," WIDER Working Paper Series 123, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    20. Keuschnigg, Christian & Devereux, Michael P., 2013. "The arm's length principle and distortions to multinational firm organization," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(2), pages 432-440.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration
    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:eti:dpaper:19099. 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: TANIMOTO, Toko (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/rietijp.html .

    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.