Searching for profit-shifting in China

Type of content
Journal Article
Thesis discipline
Degree name
Publisher
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Language
Date
2018
Authors
Reed WR
Qian X
Tian B
Chen Z
Abstract

This paper investigates profit-shifting behavior among multinational corporations (MNCs) in China. The authors exploit the flat-rate structure of China’s corporate income tax, along with its system of targeted, preferential rates, to estimate the relationship between profits and tax rates. Their sample consists of approximately 60,000 observations of foreign-owned MNCs from the years 2005–2009. Using the traditional approach of regressing before-tax profits on tax rates, the authors find evidence consistent with profit-shifting. However, this approach is suspect because the nature of China’s tax preferences makes it especially vulnerable to omitted variable bias. Accordingly, the authors employ finite mixture modelling to search for the existence of a group of profit-shifting MNCs. While their analysis identifies two types of firms, subsequent investigation failed to produce any evidence linking these to profit-shifting behavior. Robustness checks exploiting the panel nature of the dataset, along with further investigation of investment-tax elasticities, confirm the authors´ null finding of profit-shifting. One reason for the lack of profit-shifting among Chinese MNCs may be that corporate tax rates were relatively low during this period.

Description
Citation
Xuefeng Qian, Bifei Tian, W. Robert Reed, and Ziruo Chen (2018). Searching for profit-shifting in China. Economics: The Open-Access, Open- Assessment E-Journal, 12 (2018-58): 1–25.
Keywords
multinational corporations (MNCs), profit shifting, tax elasticity, finite mixture model, China
Ngā upoko tukutuku/Māori subject headings
ANZSRC fields of research
Fields of Research::35 - Commerce, management, tourism and services::3507 - Strategy, management and organisational behaviour::350706 - International business
Field of Research::14 - Economics::1402 - Applied Economics::140210 - International Economics and International Finance
Fields of Research::38 - Economics::3801 - Applied economics::380107 - Financial economics
Rights
© Author(s) 2018. Licensed under the Creative Commons License - Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)