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Taxes and the Location of U.S. Business Activity Abroad

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  • John Mutti
  • Eric Ohrn

Abstract

This paper updates a seminal study by Harry Grubert that suggested taxation is an important determinant of the location of U.S. business activity abroad (Grubert and Mutti, 1991). The present analysis yields three key findings. First, effective tax rates (ETRs) continue to influence U.S. Multinational Enterprises' (MNEs') location decisions, although our constant elasticity estimates are smaller than other researchers report. Second, the majority of our estimates demonstrate stability over the sample period, across several measures of business activity, and for two common tax rate specifications. Finally, we address the potential endogeneity of the tax variable, and our instrumental variable estimates are larger than baseline elasticities, especially for current year investment and research and development (R&D).

Suggested Citation

  • John Mutti & Eric Ohrn, 2019. "Taxes and the Location of U.S. Business Activity Abroad," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 72(1), pages 165-192, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:ntj:journl:v:72:y:2019:i:1:p:165-192
    DOI: 10.17310/ntj.2019.1.06
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    Cited by:

    1. Robinson Reyes-Peña & Arun Upadhyay & Arun Kumaraswamy, 2023. "Foreign competitive pressure and inversions by U.S. multinational enterprises," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 54(5), pages 829-851, July.
    2. Garcia-Bernardo, Javier & Janský, Petr, 2024. "Profit shifting of multinational corporations worldwide," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    3. Eichfelder, Sebastian & Kluska, Mike & Knaisch, Jonas & Selle, Juliane, 2021. "Senkung der Unternehmenssteuerlast versus Förderung von Investitionen: Was ist die bessere Strategie zur Förderung der Standortattraktivität Deutschlands?," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 266, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.

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