IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/ormnsc/v68y2022i2p1404-1425.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Influence of Corporate Income Taxes on Investment Location: Evidence from Corporate Headquarters Relocations

Author

Listed:
  • Travis Chow

    (Area of Accounting and Law, HKU Business School, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong)

  • Sterling Huang

    (School of Accountancy, Singapore Management University, Singapore 178900)

  • Kenneth J. Klassen

    (School of Accounting & Finance, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada)

  • Jeffrey Ng

    (School of Accounting & Finance, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada; School of Accounting and Finance, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong)

Abstract

This study examines the effects of jurisdictions’ corporate taxes and other policies on firms’ headquarters (HQ) location decisions. Using changes in state corporate income tax rates across time and states as the setting, we find that a one-percentage-point increase in the HQ state corporate income tax rate increases the likelihood of firms relocating their HQ out of the state by 16.8%, and an equivalent decrease in the HQ state rate decreases the likelihood of HQ relocations by 9.1%. Exploiting the unique tax policy features within the state apportionment system lends strong support to the interpretation that taxation drives this effect. Our analyses also demonstrate that state income tax features affect the destination of the HQ move. We contribute to the literature on corporate decision making by showing how state income taxation affects a real corporate decision that has significant economic consequences for the company and the state.

Suggested Citation

  • Travis Chow & Sterling Huang & Kenneth J. Klassen & Jeffrey Ng, 2022. "The Influence of Corporate Income Taxes on Investment Location: Evidence from Corporate Headquarters Relocations," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(2), pages 1404-1425, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:68:y:2022:i:2:p:1404-1425
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2020.3906
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2020.3906
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/mnsc.2020.3906?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bartik, Timothy J, 1985. "Business Location Decisions in the United States: Estimates of the Effects of Unionization, Taxes, and Other Characteristics of States," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 3(1), pages 14-22, January.
    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. Strauss-Kahn, Vanessa & Vives, Xavier, 2009. "Why and where do headquarters move?," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 168-186, March.
    4. Chirinko, Robert S. & Wilson, Daniel J., 2008. "State investment tax incentives: A zero-sum game?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(12), pages 2362-2384, December.
    5. Dyreng, Scott D. & Lindsey, Bradley P. & Thornock, Jacob R., 2013. "Exploring the role Delaware plays as a domestic tax haven," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(3), pages 751-772.
    6. Alexander Ljungqvist & Liandong Zhang & Luo Zuo, 2017. "Sharing Risk with the Government: How Taxes Affect Corporate Risk Taking," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(3), pages 669-707, June.
    7. Petroni, Kathy R. & Shackelford, Douglas A., 1995. "Taxation, regulation, and the organizational structure of property-casualty insurers," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 229-253, December.
    8. John R. Graham & Michelle Hanlon & Terry Shevlin & Nemit Shroff, 2017. "Tax Rates and Corporate Decision-making," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 30(9), pages 3128-3175.
    9. Papke, Leslie E., 1991. "Interstate business tax differentials and new firm location : Evidence from panel data," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 47-68, June.
    10. Dyreng, Scott D. & Lindsey, Bradley P. & Markle, Kevin S. & Shackelford, Douglas A., 2015. "The effect of tax and nontax country characteristics on the global equity supply chains of U.S. multinationals," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(2), pages 182-202.
    11. Dhammika Dharmapala, 2014. "What Do We Know about Base Erosion and Profit Shifting? A Review of the Empirical Literature," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 35, pages 421-448, December.
    12. Adam B. Jaffe & Manuel Trajtenberg & Rebecca Henderson, 1993. "Geographic Localization of Knowledge Spillovers as Evidenced by Patent Citations," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 108(3), pages 577-598.
    13. Goolsbee, Austan & Maydew, Edward L., 2000. "Coveting thy neighbor's manufacturing: the dilemma of state income apportionment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(1), pages 125-143, January.
    14. James R. Hines & Eric M. Rice, 1994. "Fiscal Paradise: Foreign Tax Havens and American Business," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 109(1), pages 149-182.
    15. Klassen, Kenneth J. & Shackelford, Douglas A., 1998. "State and provincial corporate tax planning: income shifting and sales apportionment factor management," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 385-406, June.
    16. Slemrod, Joel, 2004. "The Economics of Corporate Tax Selfishness," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 57(4), pages 877-899, December.
    17. Joshua D. Angrist & Jörn-Steffen Pischke, 2009. "Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 8769.
    18. Gupta, Sanjay & Mills, Lillian F., 2002. "Corporate multistate tax planning: benefits of multiple jurisdictions," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 117-139, February.
    19. Mintz, Jack & Smart, Michael, 2004. "Income shifting, investment, and tax competition: theory and evidence from provincial taxation in Canada," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(6), pages 1149-1168, June.
    20. Babkin, Anton & Glover, Brent & Levine, Oliver, 2017. "Are corporate inversions good for shareholders?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(2), pages 227-251.
    21. Vishal P. Baloria & Kenneth J. Klassen, 2018. "Supporting Tax Policy Change Through Accounting Discretion: Evidence from the 2012 Elections," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(10), pages 4893-4914, October.
    22. Daniel J. Wilson, 2015. "Competing for jobs: local taxes and incentives," FRBSF Economic Letter, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
    23. Desai, Mihir A. & Foley, C. Fritz & Hines, James Jr., 2004. "Foreign direct investment in a world of multiple taxes," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(12), pages 2727-2744, December.
    24. Jan Thomas Martini & Rainer Niemann & Dirk Simons, 2012. "Transfer Pricing or Formula Apportionment? Tax†Induced Distortions of Multinationals’ Investment and Production Decisions," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(4), pages 1060-1086, December.
    25. Desai, Mihir A. & Hines, James R. Jr., 2002. "Expectations and Expatriations: Tracing the Causes and Consequences of Corporate Inversions," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 55(3), pages 409-440, September.
    26. Lester, Rebecca, 2019. "Made in the U.S.A.? A Study of Firm Responses to Domestic Production Incentives," Research Papers 3471, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    27. Rebecca Lester, 2019. "Made in the U.S.A.? A Study of Firm Responses to Domestic Production Incentives," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(4), pages 1059-1114, September.
    28. Fox, William F. & Luna, LeAnn, 2002. "State Corporate Tax Revenue Trends: Causes and Possible Solutions," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 55(3), pages 491-508, September.
    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. Olson, Adam J. & Yust, Christopher G. & Christensen, Brant E., 2023. "Are public health policies associated with corporate innovation? Evidence from U.S. nonsmoking laws," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(10).

    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. Hanlon, Michelle & Heitzman, Shane, 2010. "A review of tax research," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 127-178, December.
    2. Eichfelder, Sebastian & Hechtner, Frank & Hundsdoerfer, Jochen, 2015. "Formula apportionment: Factor allocation and tax avoidance," Discussion Papers 2015/30, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
    3. Marius Brülhart & Kurt Schmidheiny, 2015. "Estimating The Rivalness Of State-Level Inward Fdi," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(1), pages 139-148, January.
    4. Dyreng, Scott D. & Hanlon, Michelle & Maydew, Edward L. & Thornock, Jacob R., 2017. "Changes in corporate effective tax rates over the past 25 years," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(3), pages 441-463.
    5. Marius Brülhart & Kurt Schmidheiny, 2015. "Estimating The Rivalness Of State-Level Inward Fdi," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(1), pages 139-148, January.
    6. Eichfelder, Sebastian & Hechtner, Frank & Hundsdoerfer, Jochen, 2015. "Formula apportionment: Factor allocation and tax avoidance," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 199, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
    7. Albertus, James F. & Glover, Brent & Levine, Oliver, 2019. "Heads I win, tails you lose: Asymmetric taxes, risk taking, and innovation," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 24-40.
    8. Cooper, Maggie & Nguyen, Quyen T.K., 2020. "Multinational enterprises and corporate tax planning: A review of literature and suggestions for a future research agenda," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(3).
    9. Franz Reiter & Dominika Langenmayr & Svea Holtmann, 2021. "Avoiding taxes: banks’ use of internal debt," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 28(3), pages 717-745, June.
    10. Juan Carlos Suárez Serrato & Owen Zidar, 2016. "Who Benefits from State Corporate Tax Cuts? A Local Labor Markets Approach with Heterogeneous Firms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(9), pages 2582-2624, September.
    11. Rohlin, Shawn & Rosenthal, Stuart S. & Ross, Amanda, 2014. "Tax avoidance and business location in a state border model," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 34-49.
    12. Martini, Jan-Thomas & Niemann, Rainer & Simons, Dirk, 2014. "Management incentives under formula apportionment: Tax-induced distortions of effort and compensation in a principal-agent setting," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 168, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
    13. Lars P. Feld & Jost H. Heckemeyer, 2011. "Fdi And Taxation: A Meta‐Study," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(2), pages 233-272, April.
    14. Rainer Niemann & Ulrich Schreiber, 2020. "Herausforderungen und Entwicklungsperspektiven des Steuersystems [Challenges and Development Perspectives of the Tax System]," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 72(1), pages 1-48, March.
    15. Maximilian Todtenhaupt & Johannes Voget, 2021. "International Taxation and Productivity Effects of M&As," CESifo Working Paper Series 8967, CESifo.
    16. Preetika Joshi & Edmund Outslay & Anh Persson & Terry Shevlin & Aruhn Venkat, 2020. "Does Public Country‐by‐Country Reporting Deter Tax Avoidance and Income Shifting? Evidence from the European Banking Industry," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 37(4), pages 2357-2397, December.
    17. Martin, Julien & Toubal, Farid, 2020. "Corporate tax avoidance and sales: micro evidence and aggregate implications," CEPR Discussion Papers 15060, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    18. Luis Armando Galvis-Aponte & Leonardo Bonilla-Mejía & Sara María Gómez-Mesa, 2019. "Exenciones tributarias y desarrollo regional: evidencia de Colombia," Documentos de Trabajo Sobre Economía Regional y Urbana 17733, Banco de la República, Economía Regional.
    19. Preetika Joshi, 2020. "Does Private Country‐by‐Country Reporting Deter Tax Avoidance and Income Shifting? Evidence from BEPS Action Item 13," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(2), pages 333-381, May.
    20. Dirk Kiesewetter & Tobias Steigenberger & Matthias Stier, 2018. "Can formula apportionment really prevent multinational enterprises from profit shifting? The role of asset valuation, intragroup debt, and leases," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 88(9), pages 1029-1060, December.

    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:inm:ormnsc:v:68:y:2022:i:2:p:1404-1425. 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: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.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.