IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/inecon/v127y2020ics0022199620300817.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Export to elude

Author

Listed:
  • Fan, Haichao
  • Liu, Yu
  • Qiu, Larry D.
  • Zhao, Xiaoxue

Abstract

How does domestic value-added tax (VAT) reform affect firms' export? We address this question via a model in which firms choose their sales for the domestic and foreign markets optimally. The model predicts that strengthening domestic tax enforcement has a negative effect on domestic sales but a positive effect on exports when firms face a convex production cost function. We test the model predictions using detailed firm- and product-level data from Chinese industrial surveys and customs records. Our empirical analyses rely on China's Golden Tax Project, which is an information technology introduced in 2001–2002 that dramatically reduces the cost of VAT enforcement. We find that, after the adoption of the technology by the government, firms located far from local tax offices face a larger increase in their effective VAT rates than those located nearby (the enforcement effect), and the former increase their export more than the latter (the elusion effect). We also find that the elusion effect is stronger for firms subject to higher export rebates or more severe financial constraints.

Suggested Citation

  • Fan, Haichao & Liu, Yu & Qiu, Larry D. & Zhao, Xiaoxue, 2020. "Export to elude," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:inecon:v:127:y:2020:i:c:s0022199620300817
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jinteco.2020.103366
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022199620300817
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jinteco.2020.103366?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fan, Haichao & Li, Yao Amber & Yeaple, Stephen R., 2018. "On the relationship between quality and productivity: Evidence from China's accession to the WTO," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 28-49.
    2. John McMillan & Christopher Woodruff, 1999. "Interfirm Relationships and Informal Credit in Vietnam," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(4), pages 1285-1320.
    3. Sean Lewis-Faupel & Yusuf Neggers & Benjamin A. Olken & Rohini Pande, 2016. "Can Electronic Procurement Improve Infrastructure Provision? Evidence from Public Works in India and Indonesia," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 8(3), pages 258-283, August.
    4. Andrei A. Levchenko, 2007. "Institutional Quality and International Trade," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 74(3), pages 791-819.
    5. Costinot, Arnaud, 2009. "On the origins of comparative advantage," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(2), pages 255-264, April.
    6. Berman, Nicolas & Berthou, Antoine & Héricourt, Jérôme, 2015. "Export dynamics and sales at home," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(2), pages 298-310.
    7. Nathan Nunn, 2007. "Relationship-Specificity, Incomplete Contracts, and the Pattern of Trade," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(2), pages 569-600.
    8. Ding, Haoyuan & Fan, Haichao & Lin, Shu, 2018. "Connect to trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 50-62.
    9. Chaney, Thomas, 2016. "Liquidity constrained exporters," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 141-154.
    10. Martin S. Feldstein & Paul R. Krugman, 1990. "International Trade Effects of Value-Added Taxation," NBER Chapters, in: Taxation in the Global Economy, pages 263-282, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Miguel Almunia & Pol Antràs & David Lopez-Rodriguez & Eduardo Morales, 2021. "Venting Out: Exports during a Domestic Slump," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 111(11), pages 3611-3662, November.
    12. Haichao Fan & Yao Amber Li & Stephen R. Yeaple, 2015. "Trade Liberalization, Quality, and Export Prices," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 97(5), pages 1033-1051, December.
    13. Henrik Jacobsen Kleven & Martin B. Knudsen & Claus Thustrup Kreiner & Søren Pedersen & Emmanuel Saez, 2011. "Unwilling or Unable to Cheat? Evidence From a Tax Audit Experiment in Denmark," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 79(3), pages 651-692, May.
    14. Omar Barbiero & Emmanuel Farhi & Gita Gopinath & Oleg Itskhoki, 2019. "The Macroeconomics of Border Taxes," NBER Macroeconomics Annual, University of Chicago Press, vol. 33(1), pages 395-457.
    15. repec:wyi:journl:002196 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. JaeBin Ahn & Alexander F. McQuoid, 2017. "Capacity Constrained Exporters: Identifying Increasing Marginal Cost," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 55(3), pages 1175-1191, July.
    17. Haichao Fan & Yao Amber Li & Stephen R. Yeaple, 2015. "Trade Liberalization, Quality, and Export Prices," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 97(5), pages 1033-1051, December.
    18. Treb Allen & Costas Arkolakis, 2014. "Trade and the Topography of the Spatial Economy," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 129(3), pages 1085-1140.
    19. Rajan, Raghuram G & Zingales, Luigi, 1998. "Financial Dependence and Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(3), pages 559-586, June.
    20. Youssef Benzarti & Alisa Tazhitdinova, 2021. "Do Value-Added Taxes Affect International Trade Flows? Evidence from 30 Years of Tax Reforms," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 13(4), pages 469-489, November.
    21. Chaney, Thomas, 2016. "Liquidity constrained exporters," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 141-154.
    22. Karthik Muralidharan & Paul Niehaus & Sandip Sukhtankar, 2016. "Building State Capacity: Evidence from Biometric Smartcards in India," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(10), pages 2895-2929, October.
    23. Dina Pomeranz, 2015. "No Taxation without Information: Deterrence and Self-Enforcement in the Value Added Tax," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(8), pages 2539-2569, August.
    24. Emily Oster, 2019. "Unobservable Selection and Coefficient Stability: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(2), pages 187-204, April.
    25. Chandra, Piyush & Long, Cheryl, 2013. "VAT rebates and export performance in China: Firm-level evidence," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 13-22.
    26. Kalina Manova & Shang-Jin Wei & Zhiwei Zhang, 2015. "Firm Exports and Multinational Activity Under Credit Constraints," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 97(3), pages 574-588, July.
    27. Robert Salomon & J. Myles Shaver, 2005. "Export and domestic sales: their interrelationship and determinants," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(9), pages 855-871, September.
    28. Justin R. Pierce & Peter K. Schott, 2016. "The Surprisingly Swift Decline of US Manufacturing Employment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(7), pages 1632-1662, July.
    29. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/5g3sadr9h8gbri8hrtq0h6au2 is not listed on IDEAS
    30. Minetti, Raoul & Zhu, Susan Chun, 2011. "Credit constraints and firm export: Microeconomic evidence from Italy," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(2), pages 109-125, March.
    31. Ma, Yue & Qu, Baozhi & Zhang, Yifan, 2010. "Judicial quality, contract intensity and trade: Firm-level evidence from developing and transition countries," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 146-159, June.
    32. Soderbery, Anson, 2014. "Market size, structure, and access: Trade with capacity constraints," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 276-298.
    33. Nicky J. Welton & Howard H. Z. Thom, 2015. "Value of Information," Medical Decision Making, , vol. 35(5), pages 564-566, July.
    34. Vannoorenberghe, G., 2012. "Firm-level volatility and exports," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(1), pages 57-67.
    35. Beck, Thorsten, 2002. "Financial development and international trade: Is there a link?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(1), pages 107-131, June.
    36. Blum, Bernardo S. & Claro, Sebastian & Horstmann, Ignatius J., 2013. "Occasional and perennial exporters," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(1), pages 65-74.
    37. James E. Rauch & Vitor Trindade, 2002. "Ethnic Chinese Networks In International Trade," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(1), pages 116-130, February.
    38. Daniel Berkowitz & Johannes Moenius & Katharina Pistor, 2006. "Trade, Law, and Product Complexity," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 88(2), pages 363-373, May.
    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. Shadrack Muthami Mwatu, 2022. "Institutions and export performance: firm level evidence from Kenya," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 69(4), pages 487-506, December.
    2. Georg Schneider & Frank Stähler & Georg U. Thunecke, 2022. "The (Non-)Neutrality of Value-Added Taxation," CESifo Working Paper Series 9663, CESifo.

    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. Yu Liu & Mohan Zhou & Faqin Lin & Lihua Gu, 2021. "Export as shelter from domestic corruption: Theory and evidence from developing countries," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(4), pages 930-955, April.
    2. Nunn, Nathan & Trefler, Daniel, 2014. "Domestic Institutions as a Source of Comparative Advantage," Handbook of International Economics, in: Gopinath, G. & Helpman, . & Rogoff, K. (ed.), Handbook of International Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 0, pages 263-315, Elsevier.
    3. Crinò, Rosario & Ogliari, Laura, 2017. "Financial imperfections, product quality, and international trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 63-84.
    4. Crinò, Rosario & Ogliari, Laura, 2015. "Financial Frictions, Product Quality, and International Trade," CEPR Discussion Papers 10555, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    5. Berman, Nicolas & Berthou, Antoine & Héricourt, Jérôme, 2015. "Export dynamics and sales at home," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(2), pages 298-310.
    6. Ding, Haoyuan & Fan, Haichao & Lin, Shu, 2018. "Connect to trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 50-62.
    7. Zhang, Yi & Liu, Chun & Wang, Ting, 2020. "Direct or indirect? The impact of political connections on export mode of Chinese private enterprises," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    8. Feifei Wu & Xinyu Yan, 2018. "Institutional Quality and Sustainable Development of Industries’ Exports: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-22, November.
    9. Federico J. Diez & Jesse Mora & Alan C. Spearot, 2016. "Firms in international trade," Working Papers 16-25, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
    10. repec:zbw:bofitp:2019_007 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Demir, Banu & Javorcik, Beata, 2018. "Don’t throw in the towel, throw in trade credit!," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 177-189.
    12. Ana P. Fernandes & Jing-Lin Duanmu, 2023. "Foreign Banks and Firms' Export Dynamics: Evidence from China's Banking Reform," Discussion Papers 2304, University of Exeter, Department of Economics.
    13. Qian, Nancy & Liu, Yu & Wen, Jaya & Fan, Haichao, 2018. "The Dynamic Effects of Computerized VAT Invoices on Chinese Manufacturing Firms," CEPR Discussion Papers 12786, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    14. Haichao Fan & Yu Liu & Nancy Qian & Jaya Wen, 2018. "Computerizing VAT Invoices in China," NBER Working Papers 24414, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Cai, Ning & Feng, Jinlu & Liu, Yong & Ru, Hong & Yang, Endong, 2019. "Government credit and trade war," BOFIT Discussion Papers 7/2019, Bank of Finland, Institute for Economies in Transition.
    16. JaeBin Ahn & Alexander F. McQuoid, 2017. "Capacity Constrained Exporters: Identifying Increasing Marginal Cost," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 55(3), pages 1175-1191, July.
    17. Choi, Jaerim & Hyun, Jay & Park, Ziho, 2024. "Bound by ancestors: Immigration, credit frictions, and global supply chain formation," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    18. Cai, Ning & Feng, Jinlu & Liu, Yong & Ru, Hong & Yang, Endong, 2019. "Government credit and trade war," BOFIT Discussion Papers 7/2019, Bank of Finland Institute for Emerging Economies (BOFIT).
    19. Iacovone, Leonardo & Ferro, Esteban & Pereira-López, Mariana & Zavacka, Veronika, 2019. "Banking crises and exports: Lessons from the past," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 192-204.
    20. Aksel Erbahar, 2020. "Two worlds apart? Export demand shocks and domestic sales," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 156(2), pages 313-342, May.
    21. Ferguson, Shon & Formai, Sara, 2013. "Institution-driven comparative advantage and organizational choice," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(1), pages 193-200.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Enforcement technology; VAT export rebate; Exports; Convex costs; Financial constraints;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance
    • H32 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Firm
    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade

    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:eee:inecon:v:127:y:2020:i:c:s0022199620300817. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/505552 .

    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.