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Taxation and Supplier Networks : Evidence from India

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  • Gadenne, Lucie

    (University of Warwick, Institute for Fiscal Studies and CEPR)

  • Nandi, Tushar K.

    (CTRPFP, Center for Studies in Social Sciences)

  • Rathelot, Roland

    (University of Warwick and CEPR)

Abstract

Do tax systems distort firm-to-firm trade? This paper considers the effect of tax policy on supplier networks in a large developing economy, the state of West Bengal in India. Using administrative panel data on firms, including transaction data for 4.8 million supplier-client pairs, we first document substantial segmentation of supply chains between firms paying Value-Added Taxes (VAT) and non-VAT-paying firms. We then develop a model of firms’ sourcing and tax decisions within supply chains to understand the mechanisms through which tax policy interacts with supply networks. The model predicts partial segmentation in equilibrium because of both supply-chain distortions (taxes affect how much firms trade with each other) and strategic complementarities in firms’ tax choices. Finally, we test the model’s predictions using variations over time within-firm and within supplier-client pairs. We find that the tax system distorts firms’ sourcing decisions, and suggestive evidence of strategic complementarities in firms’ tax choices within supplier networks

Suggested Citation

  • Gadenne, Lucie & Nandi, Tushar K. & Rathelot, Roland, 2019. "Taxation and Supplier Networks : Evidence from India," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 1208, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:wrk:warwec:1208
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    1. Asatryan, Zareh & Gomtsyan, David, 2020. "The incidence of VAT evasion," ZEW Discussion Papers 20-027, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    2. K. V. Ramaswamy, 2021. "Do Size-dependent Tax Incentives Discourage Plant Size Expansion? Evidence from Panel Data in Indian Manufacturing," Margin: The Journal of Applied Economic Research, National Council of Applied Economic Research, vol. 15(4), pages 395-417, November.
    3. David Atkin & Amit K. Khandelwal, 2020. "How Distortions Alter the Impacts of International Trade in Developing Countries," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 12(1), pages 213-238, August.
    4. Goodhart, Charles, 2022. "Ben S. Bernanke: 21st century monetary policy: the federal reserve from the great inflation to COVID-19. W.W. Norton & Company, 2022," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 115779, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Athiphat Muthitacharoen & Wonma Wanichthaworn & Trongwut Burong, 2021. "VAT threshold and small business behavior: evidence from Thai tax returns," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 28(5), pages 1242-1275, October.
    6. Peter Morrow & Michael Smart & Artur Swistak, 2019. "VAT Compliance, Trade, and Institutions," CESifo Working Paper Series 7780, CESifo.
    7. KAWAKUBO Takafumi & SUZUKI Takafumi, 2022. "Theory and Evidence of Firm-to-firm Transaction Network Dynamics," Discussion papers 22073, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    8. Mazhar Waseem, 2019. "Overclaimed Refunds, Undeclared Sales, and Invoice Mills: Nature and Extent of Noncompliance in a Value-Added Tax," Economics Discussion Paper Series 1913, Economics, The University of Manchester.

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