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Transfer Pricing Rules, OECD Guidelines, and Market Distortions

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  • Kristian Behrens
  • Susana Peralta
  • Pierre M. Picard

Abstract

We study the impact of transfer pricing rules on sales prices, firms’ organizational structure, and consumers’ utility within a two-country monopolistic competition model featuring source-based profit taxes that differ across countries. Firms can either become multinationals, i.e., they serve the foreign market through a fully controlled affiliate; or they can become exporters, i.e., they serve the foreign market by contracting with an independent distributor. Compared to the benchmark cases, where tax authorities are either unable to audit firms or where they are able to audit them perfectly, the use of the OECD’s Comparable Uncontrolled Price (CUP) or Cost-Plus (CP) rule distorts firms’ output and pricing decisions. The reason is that the comparable arm’s length transactions between exporters and distributors, which serve as benchmarks, are not efficient. We show that implementing the CUP or CP rules is detrimental to consumers in the low tax country, yet benefits consumers in the high tax country.

Suggested Citation

  • Kristian Behrens & Susana Peralta & Pierre M. Picard, 2009. "Transfer Pricing Rules, OECD Guidelines, and Market Distortions," Cahiers de recherche 0943, CIRPEE.
    • Handle: RePEc:lvl:lacicr:0943
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Kristian Behrens & Susana Peralt & Pierre M. Picard, 2014. "Transfer Pricing Rules, OECD Guidelines, and Market Distortions," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 16(4), pages 650-680, August.
    2. Ronald B. Davies & Julien Martin & Mathieu Parenti & Farid Toubal, 2018. "Knocking on Tax Haven’s Door: Multinational Firms and Transfer Pricing," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 100(1), pages 120-134, March.
    3. Choe, Chongwoo & Matsushima, Noriaki, 2013. "The arm's length principle and tacit collusion," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 119-130.
    4. Amerighi, Oscar & Peralta, Susana, 2010. "The proximity-concentration trade-off with profit shifting," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 90-101, July.
    5. Hayato Kato & Hirofumi Okoshi, 2022. "Economic Integration And Agglomeration Of Multinational Production With Transfer Pricing," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 63(3), pages 1325-1355, August.
    6. Jay Pil Choi & Jota Ishikawa & Hirofumi Okoshi, 2024. "Tax havens and cross-border licensing with transfer pricing regulation," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 31(2), pages 333-366, April.
    7. Quint, Ansgar F. & Rudsinske, Jonas F., 2020. "International trade and tax-motivated transfer pricing," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 406, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    8. Stefan Lutz & Daniel Kleinfeldt, 2013. "Risk as Determinant of Income and Cross-border Pricing of Multinational Enterprises," Studies in Microeconomics, , vol. 1(2), pages 185-212, December.
    9. Delis, Fotios & Economidou, Claire & Hasan, Iftekhar, 2022. "Democracy, Institutions, and International Profit-Shifting," MPRA Paper 111715, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Jaime Orlando Santofimio Gamba, 2016. "Responsabilidad Del Estado Por La Actividad Judicial," Books, Universidad Externado de Colombia, Facultad de Derecho, number 847, htpr_v3_i.
    11. Chongwoo Choe & Noriaki Matsushima, 2012. "The Arm’s Length Principle and Tacit Collusion," Monash Economics Working Papers 02-12, Monash University, Department of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Transfer pricing; OECD guidelines; multinationals and exporters; organizational choice; arm's length principle;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F12 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Models of Trade with Imperfect Competition and Scale Economies; Fragmentation
    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance
    • H87 - Public Economics - - Miscellaneous Issues - - - International Fiscal Issues; International Public Goods
    • L14 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Transactional Relationships; Contracts and Reputation

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