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Switching from Worldwide to Territorial Taxation: Empirical Evidence of FDI Effects

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  • Thiess Büttner
  • Carolin Holzmann

Abstract

This paper explores empirically whether and how FDI is affected if multinationals’ home countries change taxation of foreign earnings by switching from worldwide to territorial taxation. Our analysis employs data for German inbound FDI based on the ultimate investing country concept. We use a quasi-experimental approach and provide counterfactuals using the synthetic-control method. Our results confirm effects of the switch from worldwide to territorial taxation on FDI but point at the importance of the actual tax rate. For Japan, which charges a higher tax rate on corporate profits than Germany, we find a substantial increase of FDI in Germany after the switch from worldwide to territorial taxation. For the UK, which imposes a lower tax rate than Germany, the switch to territorial taxation is not found to exert any significant effects on investment in Germany.

Suggested Citation

  • Thiess Büttner & Carolin Holzmann, 2019. "Switching from Worldwide to Territorial Taxation: Empirical Evidence of FDI Effects," CESifo Working Paper Series 7462, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_7462
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. 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).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    FDI; double taxation; dividend exemption; tax competition; synthetic-control method; ultimate investor country;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business

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