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Corporate Structural Change for Tax Avoidance: British Multinational Enterprises and International Double Taxation between the First and Second World Wars

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  • Ryo Izawa

    (Faculty of Economics, Shiga University)

Abstract

This study demonstrates the actual impact of international double taxation on management of British multinational enterprises between the First and Second World Wars. In particular, it focused on tracing the process by which tax-minimisation strategy affected corporate-level strategy. In three cases examined using corporate archival sources, the companies reorganised their corporate legal structure for tax avoidance. Yet the effects on their management were not uniform. (1). The corporate structural change for tax avoidance of Rio Tinto and Silica Gel Corporation did not alter the extant corporate strategy. (2). Tax strategy of Imperial Continental Gas Association entailed changing extant corporate strategy. (3). The legal structure of Unilever gradually and unintentionally influenced the extant corporate strategy. These heterogeneous responses of the firms imply that the institutional pressure of a tax law does not always lead to organisational isomorphism and can affect the corporate-level strategy over time.

Suggested Citation

  • Ryo Izawa, 2018. "Corporate Structural Change for Tax Avoidance: British Multinational Enterprises and International Double Taxation between the First and Second World Wars," Discussion Papers CRR Discussion Paper Series A: General 33, Shiga University, Faculty of Economics,Center for Risk Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:shg:dpapea:33
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    File URL: https://www.econ.shiga-u.ac.jp/risk/DPA33Izawa.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Keywords

    international taxation; international business history; institutional theory; international tax system; British multinational enterprises;
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