IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/shg/dpapea/33.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Corporate Structural Change for Tax Avoidance: British Multinational Enterprises and International Double Taxation between the First and Second World Wars

Author

Listed:
  • Ryo Izawa

    (Faculty of Economics, Shiga University)

Abstract

This study demonstrates the actual impact of international double taxation on management of British multinational enterprises between the First and Second World Wars. In particular, it focused on tracing the process by which tax-minimisation strategy affected corporate-level strategy. In three cases examined using corporate archival sources, the companies reorganised their corporate legal structure for tax avoidance. Yet the effects on their management were not uniform. (1). The corporate structural change for tax avoidance of Rio Tinto and Silica Gel Corporation did not alter the extant corporate strategy. (2). Tax strategy of Imperial Continental Gas Association entailed changing extant corporate strategy. (3). The legal structure of Unilever gradually and unintentionally influenced the extant corporate strategy. These heterogeneous responses of the firms imply that the institutional pressure of a tax law does not always lead to organisational isomorphism and can affect the corporate-level strategy over time.

Suggested Citation

  • Ryo Izawa, 2018. "Corporate Structural Change for Tax Avoidance: British Multinational Enterprises and International Double Taxation between the First and Second World Wars," Discussion Papers CRR Discussion Paper Series A: General 33, Shiga University, Faculty of Economics,Center for Risk Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:shg:dpapea:33
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econ.shiga-u.ac.jp/risk/DPA33Izawa.pdf
    File Function: First version, 2018
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fieldhouse, D. K., 1994. "Merchant Capital and Economic Decolonization: The United Africa Company 1929-1987," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198226253.
    2. Christoph Farquet, 2012. "The Rise Of The Swiss Tax Haven In The Interwar Period: An International Comparison," Working Papers 0027, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    3. Jiménez, Alfredo & Luis-Rico, Isabel & Benito-Osorio, Diana, 2014. "The influence of political risk on the scope of internationalization of regulated companies: Insights from a Spanish sample," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 301-311.
    4. Cox, Howard, 2000. "The Global Cigarette: Origins and Evolution of British American Tobacco, 1880-1945," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198292210.
    5. Rafael Torres-Sánchez & Pepijn Brandon & Marjolein ‘t Hart, 2018. "War and economy. Rediscovering the eighteenth-century military entrepreneur," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 60(1), pages 4-22, January.
    6. Broadberry,Stephen & O'Rourke,Kevin H., 2010. "The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Europe," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521708395.
    7. Jones, Geoffrey, 2005. "Renewing Unilever: Transformation and Tradition," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199269433.
    8. Guy L. F. Holburn & Bennet A. Zelner, 2010. "Political capabilities, policy risk, and international investment strategy: evidence from the global electric power generation industry," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(12), pages 1290-1315, December.
    9. Stephanie Decker & Behlül Üsdiken & Lars Engwall & Michael Rowlinson, 2018. "Special issue introduction: Historical research on institutional change," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 60(5), pages 613-627, July.
    10. Ryo Izawa, 2017. "Dynamics of the British Multinational Enterprises and International Tax Regulation, 1914-1945," Discussion Papers CRR Discussion Paper Series A: General 26, Shiga University, Faculty of Economics,Center for Risk Research.
    11. Peden, G. C., 2000. "The Treasury and British Public Policy 1906-1959," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198207078.
    12. David Higgins & Steven Toms, 2000. "Public Subsidy and Private Divestment: The Lancashire Cotton Textile Industry, c.1950-c.1965," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(1), pages 59-84.
    13. Jones, Geoffrey, 2000. "Merchants to Multinationals: British Trading Companies in the 19th and 20th Centuries," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198294504.
    14. Broadberry,Stephen & O'Rourke,Kevin H. (ed.), 2010. "The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Europe 2 Volume Hardback Set," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521199179.
    15. Hanlon, Michelle & Heitzman, Shane, 2010. "A review of tax research," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 127-178, December.
    16. Jones, Chris & Temouri, Yama & Cobham, Alex, 2018. "Tax haven networks and the role of the Big 4 accountancy firms," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 53(2), pages 177-193.
    17. Simon Mollan & Kevin D. Tennent, 2015. "International taxation and corporate strategy: evidence from British overseas business, circa 1900-1965," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(7), pages 1054-1081, October.
    18. van Zanden, Jan Luiten & Jonker, Joost & Howarth, Stephen & Sluyterman, Keetie, 2007. "A History of Royal Dutch Shell," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199298778.
    19. Koen Deconinck & Eline Poelmans & Johan Swinnen, 2016. "How beer created Belgium (and the Netherlands): the contribution of beer taxes to war finance during the Dutch Revolt," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(5), pages 694-724, July.
    20. Broadberry,Stephen & O'Rourke,Kevin H. (ed.), 2010. "The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Europe 2 Volume Paperback Set," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521128247.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. J Vernon Henderson & Tim Squires & Adam Storeygard & David Weil, 2018. "The Global Distribution of Economic Activity: Nature, History, and the Role of Trade1," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 133(1), pages 357-406.
    2. Alfonso Díez‐Minguela & Rafael González‐Val & Julio Martinez‐Galarraga & M. Teresa Sanchis & Daniel A. Tirado, 2020. "The long‐term relationship between economic development and regional inequality: South‐West Europe, 1860–2010," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 99(3), pages 479-508, June.
    3. Nikolay Nenovsky & Pencho Penchev, 2018. "Between Enthusiasm and Skepticism: Bulgarian Economists and Europe (1878-1944)," HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT AND POLICY, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2018(1), pages 27-55.
    4. Teresa da Silva Lopes & Mark Casson & Geoffrey Jones, 2019. "Organizational innovation in the multinational enterprise: Internalization theory and business history," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 50(8), pages 1338-1358, October.
    5. Müller Uwe, 2018. "East Central Europe in the First Globalization (1850-1914)," Studia Historiae Oeconomicae, Sciendo, vol. 36(1), pages 71-90, December.
    6. C. Knick Harley, 2013. "British and European Industrialization," Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers _111, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    7. Nicola Amendola & Giacomo Gabbuti & Giovanni Vecchi, 2018. "On the use of composite indices in economic history. Lessons from Italy, 1861-2017," HHB Working Papers Series 11, The Historical Household Budgets Project.
    8. Paqué Karl-Heinz, 2016. "Der Wandel des Wachstums: Anmerkungen zur Dynamik von Wohlstand, Technologie und Verteilung aus Anlass von Robert J. Gordons Buch „The Rise and Fall of American Growth“," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, De Gruyter, vol. 17(3), pages 289-308, September.
    9. Lehmann-Hasemeyer, Sibylle & Prettner, Klaus & Tscheuschner, Paul, 2023. "The scientific revolution and its implications for long-run economic development," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    10. John E. Murray & Javier Silvestre, 2020. "Integration in European coal markets, 1833–1913," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 73(3), pages 668-702, August.
    11. Ryo Izawa, 2017. "Under Political Uncertainties:Organisational Changes in the Imperial Continental Gas Association, 1824?1987," Discussion Papers CRR Discussion Paper Series A: General 24 Classification-, Shiga University, Faculty of Economics,Center for Risk Research.
    12. Jiménez, Alfredo & Salvaj, Erica & Lee, Jeoung Yul, 2018. "Policy risk, distance, and private participation projects in Latin America," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 123-131.
    13. Naoki Yasuda & Hitoshi Mitsuhashi, 2017. "Learning from Political Change and the Development of MNCs’ Political Capabilities: Evidence from the Global Mining Industry," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 57(5), pages 749-774, October.
    14. Geoffrey G. Jones, 2015. "Business Groups Exist in Developed Markets Also: Britain Since 1850," Harvard Business School Working Papers 16-066, Harvard Business School.
    15. Boško Mijatović & Milan Zavadjil, 2023. "Serbia on the path to modern economic growth," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 76(1), pages 199-220, February.
    16. Cooper, Maggie & Nguyen, Quyen T.K., 2019. "Understanding the interaction of motivation and opportunity for tax planning inside US multinationals: A qualitative study," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 54(6), pages 1-1.
    17. Enas Abdullah Hassan, 2020. "The Economic Consequence Of International Financial Reporting Standards Adoption: Evidence From Corporate Tax Avoidance In Gulf States," Accounting & Taxation, The Institute for Business and Finance Research, vol. 12(1), pages 45-65.
    18. Andrew David Allan Smith, 2014. "A successful British MNE in the backyard of American big business: Explaining the performance of the American and Canadian subsidiaries of Lever Brothers 1888-1914," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(2), pages 135-160, March.
    19. Braun, Sebastian Till & Franke, Richard, 2022. "Railways, Growth, and Industrialization in a Developing German Economy, 1829–1910," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 82(4), pages 1183-1221, December.
    20. Ziad F. Elsahn & Maureen Benson-Rea, 2018. "Political Schemas and Corporate Political Activities During Foreign Market Entry: A Micro-process Perspective," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 58(5), pages 771-811, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    international taxation; international business history; institutional theory; international tax system; British multinational enterprises;
    All these keywords.

    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:shg:dpapea:33. 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: Mari Yamasaki (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/feshijp.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.