IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/pubeco/v135y2016icp87-104.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The impact of depreciation savings on investment: Evidence from the corporate Alternative Minimum Tax

Author

Listed:
  • Park, Jongsang

Abstract

Over the past decade, the United States has offered investment incentives in the form of larger depreciation savings, namely, bonus depreciation. The neoclassical investment model implies that investment responds to changes in depreciation savings, but there have been few direct attempts to investigate this implication. This paper examines investment patterns surrounding the 1999 shortening of the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) depreciation recovery periods, finding strong evidence that firms subject to the AMT increase investment in response to the AMT reform. The empirical results show that firms subject to the AMT increase their investment, measured as the ratio of capital expenditures to capital stock, by around 0.0418 to 0.0622, compared to firms subject to the regular tax. Given their average annual investment rate of approximately 0.27 during this period, the results imply a relative increase in investment of 15%--23%. By contrast, I find that the 2002 introduction of bonus depreciation, available both for firms subject to the regular tax and for firms subject to the AMT, affects both groups of firms similarly. The estimation uses an empirical specification developed from the Summers (1981) tax-adjusted q model, and the results imply that the responsiveness of investment to the tax term is somewhat larger than previously estimated.

Suggested Citation

  • Park, Jongsang, 2016. "The impact of depreciation savings on investment: Evidence from the corporate Alternative Minimum Tax," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 87-104.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:135:y:2016:i:c:p:87-104
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2016.02.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047272716000207
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2016.02.001?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. Auerbach, Alan J. & Hassett, Kevin, 1991. "Recent U.S. investment behavior and the tax reform act of 1986: A disaggregate view," Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 185-215, January.
    2. Lyon, Andrew B., 1990. "Investment Incentives Under the Alternative Minimum Tax," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 43(4), pages 451-465, December.
    3. B. Douglas Bernheim, 1989. "Incentive Effects of the Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax," NBER Chapters, in: Tax Policy and the Economy, Volume 3, pages 69-96, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Jason G. Cummins & Kevin A. Hassett & R. Glenn Hubbard, 1994. "A Reconsideration of Investment Behavior Using Tax Reforms as Natural Experiments," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 25(2), pages 1-74.
    5. Lyon, Andrew B., 1990. "Investment Incentives under the Alternative Minimum Tax," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 43(4), pages 451-65, December.
    6. Marianne Bertrand & Esther Duflo & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2004. "How Much Should We Trust Differences-In-Differences Estimates?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(1), pages 249-275.
    7. Christopher L. House & Matthew D. Shapiro, 2008. "Temporary Investment Tax Incentives: Theory with Evidence from Bonus Depreciation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(3), pages 737-768, June.
    8. Charles J. Hadlock & Joshua R. Pierce, 2010. "New Evidence on Measuring Financial Constraints: Moving Beyond the KZ Index," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(5), pages 1909-1940.
    9. Lawrence H. Summers, 1981. "Taxation and Corporate Investment: A q-Theory Approach," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 12(1), pages 67-140.
    10. Auerbach, Alan J. & Hassett, Kevin, 1991. "Recent U.S. investment behavior and the tax reform act of 1986: A disaggregate view a rejoinder," Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 221-222, January.
    11. Edgerton, Jesse, 2010. "Investment incentives and corporate tax asymmetries," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(11-12), pages 936-952, December.
    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. Zang, Guiyan & Zhang, Jianan & Xu, Siqi & Xing, Yangchuan, 2021. "Techno-economic analysis of cathode material production using flame-assisted spray pyrolysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    2. De Simone, Lisa & Piotroski, Joseph D. & Tomy, Rimmy E., 2017. "Repatriation Taxes and Foreign Cash Holdings: The Impact of Anticipated Tax Policy," Research Papers 3507, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    3. Samvel S. Lazaryan & Mariya A. Chernotalova, 2017. "Taxes Impact on Private Investment," Finansovyj žhurnal — Financial Journal, Financial Research Institute, Moscow 125375, Russia, issue 3, pages 71-84, June.

    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. Eric Zwick & James Mahon, 2017. "Tax Policy and Heterogeneous Investment Behavior," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(1), pages 217-248, January.
    2. Edgerton, Jesse, 2010. "Investment incentives and corporate tax asymmetries," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(11-12), pages 936-952, December.
    3. Boie-Wegener, Matti & Koch, Reinald & Oestreicher, Andreas & Schön, Lena, 2024. "Die fiskalische Wirkung von Steuersatzsenkungen, Abschreibungsvergünstigungen und Investitionsprämien in Krisenzeiten: Eine quantitative Analyse in Bezug auf deutsche Kapitalgesellschaften," ZEW Discussion Papers 24-008, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    4. Lei Zhang & Yuyu Chen & Zongyan He, 2018. "The effect of investment tax incentives: evidence from China’s value-added tax reform," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 25(4), pages 913-945, August.
    5. Giorgia Maffini & Jing Xing & Michael P Devereux, 2016. "The impact of investment incentives: evidence from UK corporation tax returns," Working Papers 1601, Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation.
    6. Eichfelder, Sebastian & Schneider, Kerstin, 2018. "How do tax incentives affect business investment? Evidence from German bonus depreciation," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 231, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
    7. E. Mark Curtis & Daniel G. Garrett & Eric C. Ohrn & Kevin A. Roberts & Juan Carlos Suárez Serrato, 2021. "Capital Investment and Labor Demand," NBER Working Papers 29485, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Fan, Ziying & Liu, Yu, 2020. "Tax Compliance and Investment Incentives: Firm Responses to Accelerated Depreciation in China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 1-17.
    9. Cummins, Jason G. & Hassett, Kevin A. & Hubbard, R. Glenn, 1996. "Tax reforms and investment: A cross-country comparison," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(1-2), pages 237-273, October.
    10. Hamaaki, Junya, 2008. "Investment responses to Japanese tax reforms: A cross-industry comparison," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 542-562, December.
    11. Hines, James R. & Park, Jongsang, 2019. "Investment ramifications of distortionary tax subsidies," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 36-51.
    12. Lerche, Adrian, 2019. "Investment Tax Credits and the Response of Firms," VfS Annual Conference 2019 (Leipzig): 30 Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall - Democracy and Market Economy 203526, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    13. Abhay Aneja & Nirupama Kulkarni & S. K. Ritadhi, 2021. "Consumption Tax Reform and the Real Economy: Evidence From India's Adoption of a Value‐Added Tax," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 18(3), pages 569-602, September.
    14. KOIZUMI Hideto, 2024. "Cascades of Tax Policy through Production Networks: Evidence from Japan," Discussion papers 24025, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    15. Abhay Aneja & Nirupama Kulkarni & S.K. Ritadhi, 2021. "Consumption Tax Reform and the Real Economy: Evidence from India’s Adoption of a Value-Added Tax," Working Papers 48, Ashoka University, Department of Economics.
    16. Eric Zwick & James Mahon, 2014. "Do financial frictions amplify fiscal policy? Evidence from business investment stimulus," Working Papers 1415, Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation.
    17. Rainer Niemann, 2004. "Asymmetric Taxation and Cross-Border Investment Decisions," CESifo Working Paper Series 1219, CESifo.
    18. Kaoru Hosono & Masaki Hotei & Daisuke Miyakawa, 2023. "Causal effects of a tax incentive on SME capital investment," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(2), pages 539-557, August.
    19. Walch, Florian & Dwenger, Nadja, 2011. "Tax Losses and Firm Investment: Evidence from Tax Statistics," VfS Annual Conference 2011 (Frankfurt, Main): The Order of the World Economy - Lessons from the Crisis 48699, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    20. Norman Gemmell & Richard Kneller & Danny McGowan & Ismael Sanz, 2012. "Corporate Taxation and Productivity Catch-Up: Evidence from 11 European Countries," Discussion Papers 12/06, University of Nottingham, School of Economics.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Taxes; Investment; Depreciation; Alternative Minimum Tax;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • H32 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Firm
    • G31 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Capital Budgeting; Fixed Investment and Inventory Studies

    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:pubeco:v:135:y:2016:i:c:p:87-104. 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/505578 .

    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.