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Quantifying the Effect of Corporate Taxes on the Life Cycle of Firms

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  • Neira, Julian
  • Singhania, Rish

Abstract

How does corporate taxation affect the life cycle of firms? A change in profit-tax rates affects the life cycle of firms through wages and through firm selection. We quantify these effects by looking at the average size of young and mature US firms 30 years after the Reagan Tax Cuts. We disentangle the wage and the selection effects using a model of firm dynamics. We find that the wage effect of profit tax cuts is about six times stronger than the selection effect. A change in population growth affects average firm size by changing the composition of surviving firms. We find that the effect of declining population growth on average firm size is three times stronger for mature firms than for young firms.

Suggested Citation

  • Neira, Julian & Singhania, Rish, 2020. "Quantifying the Effect of Corporate Taxes on the Life Cycle of Firms," MPRA Paper 99359, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:99359
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Xuanli Zhu, 2025. "Establishment dynamics in post-war Japan: missing entry and shrinking size," The Japanese Economic Review, Springer, vol. 76(2), pages 337-374, April.
    2. Julian Neira & Rish Singhania, 2022. "The role of corporate taxes in the decline of the startup rate," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 60(3), pages 1277-1295, July.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • E13 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - Neoclassical
    • H22 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Incidence
    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • H32 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Firm
    • L16 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Industrial Organization and Macroeconomics; Macroeconomic Industrial Structure
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship

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