IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/64769.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Corporate Tax and Location Choice for Multinational Firms

Author

Listed:
  • Lawless, Martina
  • McCoy, Daire
  • Morgenroth, Edgar
  • O'Toole, Conor

Abstract

The corporate tax rate and regime are policy instruments that are the subject of considerable attention for the role they play in attracting foreign multinationals making location decisions across countries. This paper examines the effects of corporate tax on these location decisions of newly established multinational subsidiaries across 26 European countries over an eight year period. We contribute to the existing literature by examining the effects of a non-linear response of firm location decisions to changes in the tax rate. We find that accounting for this non-linearity improves the performance of the model for all of the alternative measures of the tax rate. We also show that there are large variations in the sensitivity to tax rates across sectors and firm size groups. In particular, financial sector firms are more than twice as sensitive to changes in corporation tax rates relative to other sectors.

Suggested Citation

  • Lawless, Martina & McCoy, Daire & Morgenroth, Edgar & O'Toole, Conor, 2015. "Corporate Tax and Location Choice for Multinational Firms," MPRA Paper 64769, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:64769
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/64769/1/MPRA_paper_64769.pdf
    File Function: original version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Paulo Guimarães & Octávio Figueirdo & Douglas Woodward, 2003. "A Tractable Approach to the Firm Location Decision Problem," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 85(1), pages 201-204, February.
    2. Devereux, Michael P & Griffith, Rachel, 2003. "Evaluating Tax Policy for Location Decisions," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 10(2), pages 107-126, March.
    3. Paulo Guimarães & Octávio Figueiredo & Douglas Woodward, 2004. "Industrial Location Modeling: Extending the Random Utility Framework," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(1), pages 1-20, February.
    4. Chen, Maggie Xiaoyang & Moore, Michael O., 2010. "Location decision of heterogeneous multinational firms," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(2), pages 188-199, March.
    5. Barrios, Salvador & Huizinga, Harry & Laeven, Luc & Nicodème, Gaëtan, 2012. "International taxation and multinational firm location decisions," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(11), pages 946-958.
    6. 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.
    7. McAleer, Michael & Pagan, Adrian R & Volker, Paul A, 1985. "What Will Take the Con out of Econometrics?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(3), pages 293-307, June.
    8. Siedschlag, Iulia & Zhang, Xiaoheng & Smith, Donal, 2009. "What Determines the Location Choice of Multinational Firms in the ICT Sector?," Papers WP336, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    9. Devereux, Michael P. & Griffith, Rachel, 2003. "The Impact of Corporate Taxation on the Location of Capital: A Review," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 275-292, September.
    10. Ronald B. Davies & Pehr‐Johan Norbäck & Ayça Tekin‐Koru, 2009. "The Effect of Tax Treaties on Multinational Firms: New Evidence from Microdata," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 77-110, January.
    11. Kemsley, D, 1998. "The effect of taxes on production location," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(2), pages 321-341.
    12. Keith Head & Thierry Mayer, 2004. "Market Potential and the Location of Japanese Investment in the European Union," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(4), pages 959-972, November.
    13. Basile, Roberto & Castellani, Davide & Zanfei, Antonello, 2008. "Location choices of multinational firms in Europe: The role of EU cohesion policy," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(2), pages 328-340, March.
    14. 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.
    15. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/10192 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Young, Garry, 1999. "The Influence of Foreign Factor Prices and International Taxation on Fixed Investment in the UK," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 51(2), pages 355-373, April.
    17. Schmidheiny, Kurt & Brülhart, Marius, 2011. "On the equivalence of location choice models: Conditional logit, nested logit and Poisson," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 214-222, March.
    18. Keith Head & Thierry Mayer, 2004. "Market Potential and the Location of Japanese Firms in the European Union," Post-Print hal-00267438, HAL.
    19. Leamer, Edward E, 1983. "Let's Take the Con Out of Econometrics," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 73(1), pages 31-43, March.
    20. Paul S. Davies & Michael J. Greenwood & Haizheng Li, 2001. "A Conditional Logit Approach to U.S. State‐to‐State Migration," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(2), pages 337-360, May.
    21. Michael Devereux & Harold Freeman, 1995. "The impact of tax on foreign direct investment: Empirical evidence and the implications for tax integration schemes," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 2(1), pages 85-106, February.
    22. Iulia Siedschlag & Xiaoheng Zhang & Donal Smith, 2013. "What determines the location choice of multinational firms in the information and communication technologies sector?," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(6), pages 581-600, September.
    23. Sala-i-Martin, Xavier, 1997. "I Just Ran Two Million Regressions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(2), pages 178-183, May.
    24. Michael P Devereux, 2007. "The Impact of Taxation on the Location of Capital, Firms and Profit: a Survey of Empirical Evidence," Working Papers 0702, Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation.
    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. Francesca Spinelli & Dorothée Rouzet & Hongyong Zhang, 2020. "Networks of foreign affiliates: Evidence from Japanese micro‐data," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(7), pages 1841-1867, July.
    2. Ronald B. Davies & Neill Killeen, 2018. "Location decisions of non‐bank financial foreign direct investment: Firm‐level evidence from Europe," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 378-403, May.
    3. Ronald B. Davies & Iulia Siedschlag & Zuzanna Studnicka, 2021. "The impact of taxes on the extensive and intensive margins of FDI," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 28(2), pages 434-464, April.
    4. Yan, Pu & Xiao, Chunwang & Xu, Li & Yu, Guirui & Li, Ang & Piao, Shilong & He, Nianpeng, 2020. "Biomass energy in China's terrestrial ecosystems: Insights into the nation's sustainable energy supply," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    5. Fischer, Leonie & Heckemeyer, Jost H. & Spengel, Christoph & Steinbrenner, Daniela, 2021. "Tax policies in a transition to a knowledge-based economy: The effective tax burden of companies and highly skilled labour," ZEW Discussion Papers 21-096, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    6. Siedschlag, Iulia & McLoughlin, Robert & Daire De Hora, 2023. "The impact of the global tax reforms on Ireland’s corporate investment and the wider economy," Papers WP761, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    7. Bergin, Adele & Curristan, Sarah & Farrell, Niall & Laurence, James & Lynch, Muireann Á. & McGinnity, Frances & McGuinness, Seamus & Russell, Helen & Smyth, Emer, 2022. "Scoping papers for research on ‘The economic and social opportunities from increased cooperation on the Shared Island'," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number SUSTAT112.
    8. Athiphat Muthitacharoen, 2023. "Location Choice And Tax Responsiveness Of Foreign Multinationals: Evidence From Asean Countries," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 68(01), pages 217-242, March.
    9. Nicodeme Gaetan & Caiumi Antonella & Majewski Ina, 2018. "What Happened to CIT Collection? Solving the Rates-Revenues Puzzle," Taxation Papers 74, Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission.
    10. Ronald B. Davies & Neill Killeen, 2018. "The Effect of Tax Treaties on Market Based Finance: Evidence using Firm-Level Data," Working Papers 201818, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    11. Eichfelder, Sebastian & Kluska, Mike & Knaisch, Jonas & Selle, Juliane, 2021. "Senkung der Unternehmenssteuerlast versus Förderung von Investitionen: Was ist die bessere Strategie zur Förderung der Standortattraktivität Deutschlands?," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 266, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
    12. Siedschlag, Iulia & Yan, Weijie, 2021. "Enhancing the attractiveness of the all-island economy to high-value sectors," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number RS133.
    13. Vera, Ivan & Wicke, Birka & Lamers, Patrick & Cowie, Annette & Repo, Anna & Heukels, Bas & Zumpf, Colleen & Styles, David & Parish, Esther & Cherubini, Francesco & Berndes, Göran & Jager, Henriette & , 2022. "Land use for bioenergy: Synergies and trade-offs between sustainable development goals," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    14. Anatolijs Prohorovs, 2023. "Re-Export: Assessing the Impact of Re-Export Companies on Sectors and the Economy," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-25, January.
    15. Hoppe, Thomas & Schanz, Deborah & Sturm, Susann & Sureth, Caren & Voget, Johannes, 2020. "The relation between tax complexity and foreign direct investment: Evidence across countries," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 250, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.

    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. Ronald B. Davies & Iulia Siedschlag & Zuzanna Studnicka, 2021. "The impact of taxes on the extensive and intensive margins of FDI," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 28(2), pages 434-464, April.
    2. Athiphat Muthitacharoen, 2023. "Location Choice And Tax Responsiveness Of Foreign Multinationals: Evidence From Asean Countries," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 68(01), pages 217-242, March.
    3. Duffy, David & McQuinn, Kieran & Morley, Ciara & Foley, Daniel, 2016. "Quarterly Economic Commentary, Summer 2016," Forecasting Report, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number QEC20162.
    4. Davies, Ronald B. & Siedschlag, Iulia & Studnicka, Zuzanna, 2018. "Corporate taxation and the location choice of foreign direct investment in EU countries," Papers WP591, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    5. Ronald B. Davies & Neill Killeen, 2018. "The Effect of Tax Treaties on Market Based Finance: Evidence using Firm-Level Data," Working Papers 201818, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    6. Siedschlag, Iulia & Yan, Weijie, 2021. "Enhancing the attractiveness of the all-island economy to high-value sectors," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number RS133.
    7. Barrios, Salvador & Huizinga, Harry & Laeven, Luc & Nicodème, Gaëtan, 2012. "International taxation and multinational firm location decisions," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(11), pages 946-958.
    8. Eickelpasch, Alexander & Hirte, Georg & Stephan, Andreas, 2016. "Firms' Evaluation of Location Quality: Evidence from East Germany," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 236(2), pages 241-273.
    9. Megha Mukim & Peter Nunnenkamp, 2012. "The Location Choices of Foreign Investors: A District-level Analysis in India," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(7), pages 886-918, July.
    10. Arulampalam, Wiji & Devereux, Michael P. & Liberini, Federica, 2019. "Taxes and the location of targets," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 161-178.
    11. Mayer, T. & Mejean, I. & Nefussi, B., 2010. "The location of domestic and foreign production affiliates by French multinational firms," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 115-128, September.
    12. Mayer, T. & Mejean, I. & Nefussi, B., 2010. "The location of domestic and foreign production affiliates by French multinational firms," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 115-128, September.
    13. Siedschlag, Iulia & Smith, Donal & Turcu, Camelia & Zhang, Xiaoheng, 2009. "What Determines the Attractiveness of the European Union to the Location of R&D Multinational Firms?," Papers WP306, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    14. Liberini, Federica, 2014. "Corporate Taxes and the Growth of the Firm," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 1042, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    15. Ronald B. Davies & Johannes Voget, 2008. "Tax Competition in an Expanding European Union," Working Papers 0830, Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation.
    16. Marie-Line Duboz & Nathalie Kroichvili & Julie Le Gallo, 2019. "What matters most for FDI attraction in services: country or region performance? An empirical analysis of EU for 1997–2012," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 63(3), pages 601-638, December.
    17. Keller, Sara & Schanz, Deborah, 2013. "Measuring tax attractiveness across countries," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 143, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
    18. Hideki Yamawaki, 2006. "The location of American and Japanese multinationals in Europe," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 3(2), pages 157-173, November.
    19. Cantner, Uwe & Günther, Jutta & Hassan, Sohaib Shahzad & Jindra, Björn, 2013. "Outward FDI from the Central and Eastern European Transition Economies – A Discrete Choice Analysis of Location Choice within the European Union," MPRA Paper 51817, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 04 Jun 2013.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Corporation Tax; Location Choice; Multinational firms; FDI;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C25 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Discrete Regression and Qualitative Choice Models; Discrete Regressors; Proportions; Probabilities
    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies

    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:pra:mprapa:64769. 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: Joachim Winter (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vfmunde.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.