IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/fit/wpaper/7.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Firm Responses to an Interest Barrier: Empirical Evidence

Author

Listed:
  • Jarkko Harju

    (Tampere University, Finnish Centre of Excellence in Tax Systems Research (FIT), VATT Institute for Economic Research and CESifo)

  • Ilpo Kauppinen

    (VATT Institute for Economic Research and CESifo)

  • Olli Ropponen

    (Etla Economic Research)

Abstract

This paper studies the effects of an interest barrier (IB) that was introduced in Finland to restrict the profit-shifting opportunities of multinational enterprises (MNEs). We employ Orbis database on Finnish, Swedish and Danish MNEs and a difference-in-differences methodology, where Swedish and Danish MNEs serve as a control group. We find that Finnish MNEs responded to IB by decreasing their financial expenses. We also find that the most affected firms decreased their debt levels due to the reform. Our results suggest that the financial expense response is followed by a change in the use of transfer pricing as a method to shift profits between tax jurisdictions. We do not find evidence of total output changes among treated firms, suggesting that the IB did not affect the real activity of MNEs.

Suggested Citation

  • Jarkko Harju & Ilpo Kauppinen & Olli Ropponen, 2023. "Firm Responses to an Interest Barrier: Empirical Evidence," Working Papers 7, Finnish Centre of Excellence in Tax Systems Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:fit:wpaper:7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://verotutkimus.fi/verotutkimus/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/FIT-WP7-Firm-Responses-to-an-Interest-Barrier-160323.pdf
    File Function: Revised version, 2023
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.doria.fi/handle/10024/148927
    File Function: First version, 2017
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Huang, Rongbing & Ritter, Jay R., 2009. "Testing Theories of Capital Structure and Estimating the Speed of Adjustment," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 44(2), pages 237-271, April.
    2. Givoly, Dan, et al, 1992. "Taxes and Capital Structure: Evidence from Firms' Response to the Tax Reform Act of 1986," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 5(2), pages 331-355.
    3. Buettner, Thiess & Overesch, Michael & Schreiber, Ulrich & Wamser, Georg, 2009. "Taxation and capital structure choice--Evidence from a panel of German multinationals," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 105(3), pages 309-311, December.
    4. Eugene F. Fama, 2002. "Testing Trade-Off and Pecking Order Predictions About Dividends and Debt," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 15(1), pages 1-33, March.
    5. Nadja Dwenger & Viktor Steiner, 2014. "Financial leverage and corporate taxation: evidence from German corporate tax return data," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 21(1), pages 1-28, February.
    6. Ruf Martin & Schindler Dirk, 2015. "Debt Shifting and Thin-Capitalization Rules – German Experience and Alternative Approaches," Nordic Tax Journal, Sciendo, vol. 2015(1), pages 17-33, September.
    7. Gresik, Thomas A. & Schindler, Dirk & Schjelderup, Guttorm, 2017. "Immobilizing corporate income shifting: Should it be safe to strip in the harbor?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 68-78.
    8. Hines, James R. Jr., 1999. "Lessons From Behavioral Responses to International Taxation," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 52(2), pages 305-322, June.
    9. Huizinga, Harry & Laeven, Luc & Nicodeme, Gaetan, 2008. "Capital structure and international debt shifting," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(1), pages 80-118, April.
    10. R. Miniaci & M. Parisi & P. Panteghini, 2014. "Debt shifting in Europe," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 21(3), pages 397-435, June.
    11. Jennifer Blouin & Harry Huizinga & Luc Laeven & Gaëtan Nicodème, 2013. "Thin capitalization rules and multinational firm capital structure," Working Papers 1323, Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation.
    12. repec:vhb:journl:v:2:y:2009:i:2:p:147-169 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Georg Wamser, 2014. "The Impact of Thin-Capitalization Rules on External Debt Usage – A Propensity Score Matching Approach," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 76(5), pages 764-781, October.
    14. Alfons J. Weichenrieder & Helen Windischbauer & Alfons Weichenrieder, 2008. "Thin-Capitalization Rules and Company Responses Experience from German Legislation," CESifo Working Paper Series 2456, CESifo.
    15. Hermann Buslei & Martin Simmler, 2012. "The Impact of Introducing an Interest Barrier: Evidence from the German Corporation Tax Reform 2008," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1215, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    16. Ruud A. de Mooij, 2011. "The Tax Elasticity of Corporate Debt: A Synthesis of Size and Variations," IMF Working Papers 2011/095, International Monetary Fund.
    17. Ayers, Benjamin C. & Cloyd, C. Bryan & Robinson, John R., 2001. "The Influence of Income Taxes on the Use of Inside and Outside Debt by Small Businesses," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 54(1), pages 27-56, March.
    18. Serena Fatica & Thomas Hemmelgarn & Gaëtan Nicodème, 2013. "The Debt-Equity Tax Bias: Consequences and Solutions," Reflets et perspectives de la vie économique, De Boeck Université, vol. 0(1), pages 5-18.
    19. Buettner, Thiess & Wamser, Georg, 2013. "Internal Debt and Multinational Profit Shifting: Empirical Evidence From Firm-Level Panel Data," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 66(1), pages 63-95, March.
    20. Peter Egger & Christian Keuschnigg & Valeria Merlo & Georg Wamser, 2014. "Corporate Taxes and Internal Borrowing within Multinational Firms," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 6(2), pages 54-93, May.
    21. Dhammika Dharmapala, 2014. "What Do We Know about Base Erosion and Profit Shifting? A Review of the Empirical Literature," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 35, pages 421-448, December.
    22. Graham, John R., 1996. "Debt and the marginal tax rate," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 41-73, May.
    23. Barclay, Michael J & Smith, Clifford W, Jr, 1995. "The Maturity Structure of Corporate Debt," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 50(2), pages 609-631, June.
    24. Sudipto Sarkar & Fernando Zapatero, 2003. "The Trade-off Model with Mean Reverting Earnings: Theory and Empirical Tests," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 113(490), pages 834-860, October.
    25. Huizinga, Harry & Laeven, Luc, 2008. "International profit shifting within multinationals: A multi-country perspective," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(5-6), pages 1164-1182, June.
    26. Dhammika Dharmapala, 2016. "The economics of corporate and business tax reform," Working Papers 1604, Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation.
    27. Heckemeyer, Jost H. & Overesch, Michael, 2013. "Multinationals' profit response to tax differentials: Effect size and shifting channels," ZEW Discussion Papers 13-045, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    28. Sørensen, Bent E & Kalemli-Özcan, Sebnem & Volosovych, Vadym & Villegas-Sanchez, Carolina & Yesiltas, Sevcan, 2015. "How to construct nationally representative firm level data from the ORBIS global database," CEPR Discussion Papers 10829, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    29. Peter Egger & Michael Stimmelmayr, 2017. "Taxation and the Multinational Firm," CESifo Working Paper Series 6384, CESifo.
    30. Alberternst, Stephan & Sureth-Sloane, Caren, 2016. "Interest barrier and capital structure response," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 206, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
    31. repec:bla:jfinan:v:59:y:2004:i:6:p:2451-2487 is not listed on IDEAS
    32. repec:ces:ifodic:v:12:y:2015:i:4:p:19151968 is not listed on IDEAS
    33. Sebnem Kalemli-Ozcan & Bent Sorensen & Carolina Villegas-Sanchez & Vadym Volosovych & Sevcan Yesiltas, 2015. "How to Construct Nationally Representative Firm Level Data from the Orbis Global Database: New Facts and Aggregate Implications," NBER Working Papers 21558, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    34. Hines, James R. Jr., 1999. "Lessons from Behavioral Responses to International Taxation," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 52(n. 2), pages 305-22, June.
    35. Michael Overesch & Georg Wamser, 2010. "Corporate tax planning and thin-capitalization rules: evidence from a quasi-experiment," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(5), pages 563-573.
    36. Buettner, Thiess & Overesch, Michael & Schreiber, Ulrich & Wamser, Georg, 2012. "The impact of thin-capitalization rules on the capital structure of multinational firms," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(11), pages 930-938.
    37. Ayers, Benjamin C. & Cloyd, C. Bryan & Robinson, John R., 2001. "The Influence of Income Taxes on the Use of Inside and Outside Debt By Small Businesses," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 54(n. 1), pages 27-56, March.
    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. Gideon Goerdt & Wolfgang Eggert, 2022. "Substitution across profit shifting methods and the impact on thin capitalization rules," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 29(3), pages 581-599, June.
    2. Christophe André & Hyunjeong Hwang, 2018. "Tax reform to support growth and employment in Finland," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1468, OECD Publishing.
    3. Zarko Y. Kalamov, 2023. "Internal debt and welfare," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 25(1), pages 196-224, February.
    4. Baumann, Alexendra & Wohlrabe, Klaus, 2019. "Publikationen von Wirtschaftsforschungsinstituten im deutschsprachigen Raum - Eine bibliometrische Analyse [Publications of Economic Research Insitutes in the German Speaking Area - A bibliometric ," MPRA Paper 92240, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Ropponen, Olli, 2021. "Interest Limitation Rules and Business Cycles: Empirical Evidence," ETLA Working Papers 90, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.

    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. Ropponen, Olli, 2021. "Interest Limitation Rules and Business Cycles: Empirical Evidence," ETLA Working Papers 90, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
    2. Feld, Lars P. & Heckemeyer, Jost H. & Overesch, Michael, 2013. "Capital structure choice and company taxation: A meta-study," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 2850-2866.
    3. Mardan, Mohammed, 2017. "Why countries differ in thin capitalization rules: The role of financial development," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 1-14.
    4. Alberternst, Stephan & Sureth-Sloane, Caren, 2016. "Interest barrier and capital structure response," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 206, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
    5. Thiess Buettner & Michael Overesch & Georg Wamser, 2018. "Anti profit-shifting rules and foreign direct investment," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 25(3), pages 553-580, June.
    6. Nicolay, Katharina & Nusser, Hannah & Pfeiffer, Olena, 2017. "On the interdependency of profit shifting channels and the effectiveness of anti-avoidance legislation," ZEW Discussion Papers 17-066, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    7. Stöckl Matthias & Winner Hannes, 2013. "Körperschaftsbesteuerung und Unternehmensverschuldung: Evidenz aus einem Europäischen Firmenpanel / Capital Structure and Corporate Taxation: Empirical Evidence from European Panel Data," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 233(2), pages 188-205, April.
    8. Kayis-Kumar, Ann, 2015. "Thin capitalisation rules: A second-best solution to the cross-border debt bias?," MPRA Paper 72031, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Zarko Y. Kalamov, 2020. "Safe haven or earnings stripping rules: a prisoner’s dilemma?," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 27(1), pages 38-76, February.
    10. Feulefack Kemmanang, Ludovic, 2021. "Does resource dependence cushion the impact of thin capitalization rules on foreign investment inflows? Evidence from Africa," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    11. Ruf Martin & Schindler Dirk, 2015. "Debt Shifting and Thin-Capitalization Rules – German Experience and Alternative Approaches," Nordic Tax Journal, Sciendo, vol. 2015(1), pages 17-33, September.
    12. Kayis-Kumar, Ann, 2016. "What's BEPS got to do with it? Exploring the effectiveness of thin capitalisation rules," MPRA Paper 75741, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Dreßler, Daniel & Scheuering, Uwe, 2012. "Empirical evaluation of interest barrier effects," ZEW Discussion Papers 12-046, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    14. Overesch Michael, 2016. "Steuervermeidung multinationaler Unternehmen: Die Befunde der empirischen Forschung," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, De Gruyter, vol. 17(2), pages 129-143, July.
    15. Mongrain, Steeve & Oh, David & van Ypersele, Tanguy, 2023. "Tax competition in the presence of profit shifting," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 224(C).
    16. Sebastian Beer & Ruud de Mooij & Li Liu, 2020. "International Corporate Tax Avoidance: A Review Of The Channels, Magnitudes, And Blind Spots," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(3), pages 660-688, July.
    17. Goldbach, Stefan & Nagengast, Arne J. & Steinmüller, Elias & Wamser, Georg, 2019. "The effect of investing abroad on investment at home: On the role of technology, tax savings, and internal capital markets," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 58-73.
    18. Thiess Buettner & Michael Overesch & Georg Wamser, 2016. "Restricted interest deductibility and multinationals’ use of internal debt finance," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 23(5), pages 785-797, October.
    19. Haufler, Andreas & Mardan, Mohammed & Schindler, Dirk, 2018. "Double tax discrimination to attract FDI and fight profit shifting: The role of CFC rules," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 25-43.
    20. Bofinger, Peter & Schnabel, Isabel & Feld, Lars P. & Schmidt, Christoph M. & Wieland, Volker, 2014. "Mehr Vertrauen in Marktprozesse. Jahresgutachten 2014/15 [More confidence in market processes. Annual Report 2014/15]," Annual Economic Reports / Jahresgutachten, German Council of Economic Experts / Sachverständigenrat zur Begutachtung der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Entwicklung, volume 127, number 201415.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Corporate income tax; Multinational firms; Capital structure; Profit shifting; Interest barrier;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:fit:wpaper:7. 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: Marjukka Hourunranta (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/fitsrfi.html .

    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.