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Is transfer pricing strictness deterring profit shifting within multinationals? Empirical evidence from Europe

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  • Mário Marques
  • Carlos Pinho

Abstract

This paper examines the extent to which the introduction and tightening of transfer pricing frameworks deter income shifting strategies by European multinational companies. To do so, we have built an index that measures the transfer pricing framework strictness by host country and year. Then, tax rate differentials are used to capture profit-shifting incentives and are interacted with the strictness index to assess whether the host country's transfer pricing framework impacts profit-shifting behaviour. The index is shown to increase significantly over the sample period, indicating that the scrutiny of related party transactions by European governments has increased over the period 2001–2009. Using a sample of European foreign subsidiaries, the results suggest that the stricter the transfer pricing framework the lower the tax rate difference sensitivity of reported earnings. This indicates that tightening the transfer pricing framework is capable of dissuading multinational companies from shifting profits from higher- to lower-tax countries.

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  • Mário Marques & Carlos Pinho, 2016. "Is transfer pricing strictness deterring profit shifting within multinationals? Empirical evidence from Europe," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(7), pages 703-730, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:acctbr:v:46:y:2016:i:7:p:703-730
    DOI: 10.1080/00014788.2015.1135782
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    1. Toledo, Katia & Alvarado, Alfredo, 2023. "Tackling BEPS in the Global South: Evidence from Peru’s tax reform," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 47(3).
    2. Steens, Bert & Roques, Thibaut & Gonnet, Sébastien & Beuselinck, Christof & Petutschnig, Matthias, 2022. "Transfer pricing comparables: Preferring a close neighbor over a far-away peer?," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 47(C).
    3. Dylan G. Rassier, 2017. "Intangible assets and transactions within multinational enterprises: implications for national economic accounts," WIPO Economic Research Working Papers 38, World Intellectual Property Organization - Economics and Statistics Division.
    4. Peter ven de Ven & Anne Harrison & Barbara Fraumeni & Dylan G. Rassier, 2017. "Improving the SNA Treatment of Multinational Enterprises," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 63, pages 287-320, December.
    5. Eulaiwi, Baban & Alghamdi, Fatmah Saeed & Al-Hadi, Ahmed & Duong, Lien & Taylor, Grantley, 2024. "U.S. multinational corporations' income shifting incentives and share repurchases: Evidence across differential taxation systems," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    6. 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.
    7. Rathke, Alex A.T. & Rezende, Amaury J. & Watrin, Christoph, 2020. "Classification of transfer pricing systems across countries," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 151-167.
    8. Marques, Mário & Pinho, Carlos & Montenegro, Tânia Menezes, 2019. "The effect of international income shifting on the link between real investment and corporate taxation," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 1-1.
    9. Kumar, Satish & Pandey, Neeraj & Lim, Weng Marc & Chatterjee, Akash Nil & Pandey, Nitesh, 2021. "What do we know about transfer pricing? Insights from bibliometric analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 275-287.

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