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Where Does Multinational Investment Go with Territorial Taxation? Evidence from the United Kingdom

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  • Li Liu

Abstract

In 2009, the United Kingdom changed from a worldwide to a territorial tax system, abolishing dividend taxes on foreign repatriation from many low-tax countries. This paper assesses the causal effect of territorial taxation on real investments, using a unique dataset for multinational affiliates in 27 European countries and employing the difference-in-differences approach. It finds that the territorial reform has increased the investment rate of UK multinationals by 16.7 percentage points in low-tax countries. In the absence of any significant investment reduction elsewhere, the findings represent a likely increase in total outbound investment by UK multinationals.

Suggested Citation

  • Li Liu, 2020. "Where Does Multinational Investment Go with Territorial Taxation? Evidence from the United Kingdom," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 12(1), pages 325-358, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejpol:v:12:y:2020:i:1:p:325-58
    DOI: 10.1257/pol.20180592
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Fuest, Clemens & Hugger, Felix & Neumeier, Florian, 2022. "Corporate profit shifting and the role of tax havens: Evidence from German country-by-country reporting data," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 454-477.
    2. Dhammika Dharmapala, 2024. "The consequences of the 2017 US international tax reform: a survey of the evidence," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 31(4), pages 1158-1178, August.
    3. Kelley, Stacie O. & Lewellen, Christina M. & Lynch, Daniel P. & Samuel, David M.P., 2024. "“Just BEAT it” do firms reclassify costs to avoid the base erosion and anti-abuse tax (BEAT) of the TCJA?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(2).
    4. Sean Mc Auliffe & Georg U. Thunecke & Georg Wamser, 2023. "The Tax-Elasticity of Tangible Fixed Assets: Evidence from Novel Corporate Tax Data," CESifo Working Paper Series 10628, CESifo.
    5. Langenmayr, Dominika & Liu, Li, 2023. "Home or away? Profit shifting with territorial taxation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 217(C).
    6. Bilicka, Katarzyna & Qi, Yaxuan & Xing, Jing, 2022. "Real responses to anti-tax avoidance: Evidence from the UK Worldwide Debt Cap," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 214(C).
    7. Ruud Mooij & Li Liu, 2020. "At a Cost: The Real Effects of Transfer Pricing Regulations," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 68(1), pages 268-306, March.
    8. Albertus, James F. & Glover, Brent & Levine, Oliver, 2022. "Foreign investment of US multinationals: The effect of tax policy and agency conflicts," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(1), pages 298-327.
    9. Makoto Hasegawa, 2023. "Territorial Tax Reform and Profit Shifting by US and Japanese Multinationals," National Tax Journal, University of Chicago Press, vol. 76(4), pages 771-804.
    10. Yang, JinHyuk & Kang, Youngho, 2023. "Effects of home country tax reform on FDI inflows to South Korea: A synthetic control method approach," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 225(C).
    11. Sean Mc Auliffe & Georg U. Thunecke & Georg Wamser, 2023. "The Tax-Elasticity of Tangible Fixed Assets: Heterogeneous Effects of Homogeneous Tax Policy Changes," Working Papers tax-mpg-rps-2023-25, Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
    • G31 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Capital Budgeting; Fixed Investment and Inventory Studies
    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • H32 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Firm
    • H87 - Public Economics - - Miscellaneous Issues - - - International Fiscal Issues; International Public Goods

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