Loss Deduction, Risk Sharing and Firm Investment: Empirical Evidence on the Sleeping Partner Hypothesis
MAO Jie, JI Li, ZHAO Zhongxiu
School of International Trade and Economics, University of International Business and Economics; Business School, University of Shanghai for Science & Technology; School of International Trade and Economics, University of International Business and Economics
Abstract:
Based on a theoretical model and the Chinese Industrial Enterprises Database over 1998-2007, we analyze the effect of corporate income tax loss deduction on risk taking. We find that the higher levels of corporate income tax burden and investment risk a company is facing, the more significant the effect is, i.e., the more investment risks it will take. The empirical results are robust, but the effect is heterogeneous. Moderately relaxing the rules of corporate income tax loss deduction and being a good sleeping partner of firms can help the Chinese government promote investments, encourage innovation and entrepreneurship, and put forward reform of the supply side.
Arrow, K. 1970. Essays in the Theory of Risk-Bearing, Amsterdam: North-Holland.
[30]
Brandt, L., and X. Zhu. 2000. “Redistribution in a Decentralized Economy: Growth and Inflation in China under Reform” Journal of Political Economy, 108: 422~439.
[31]
Cai, H., and Q. Liu. 2009. “Competition and Corporate Tax Avoidance: Evidence from Chinese Industrial Firms” Economic Journal, 119: 764~795.
[32]
Cohen, W. 2010. “Fifty Years of Empirical Studies of Innovative Activity and Performance”, in Hall B. and N. Rosenberg, eds., Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, Amsterdam: North-Holland, Volume 1, p137.
[33]
Comin, D., and S. Mulani. 2009. “A Theory of Growth and Volatility at the Aggregate and Firm Level” Journal of Monetary Economics, 56: 1023~1042.
[34]
Creedy, J., and N. Gemmell. 2011. “Corporation Tax Asymmetries: Effective Tax Rates and Profit Shifting” International Tax and Public Finance, 18: 422~435.
[35]
Cullen, J., and R. Gordon. 2007. “Taxes and Entrepreneurial Risk-Taking: Theory and Evidence for the U.S.” Journal of Public Economics, 91: 1479~1505.
[36]
Domar, E., and R. Musgrave. 1944. “Proportional Income Taxation and Risk-Taking” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 58: 388~422.
[37]
Dreβler, D., and M. Overesch. 2013. “Investment Impact of Tax Loss Treatment-Empirical Insights from a Panel of Multinationals” International Tax and Public Finance, 20: 513~543.
[38]
Driscoll, J., and A. Kraay. 1998. “Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimation with Spatially Dependent Panel Data” Review of Economics and Statistics, 80: 549~560.
[39]
Edgerton, J. 2010. “Investment Incentives and Corporate Tax Asymmetries” Journal of Public Economics, 94: 936~952.
[40]
EFI (Expert Commission for Research and Innovation in Germany). 2011. “Report 2011”, p19. http://www.e-fi.de/fileadmin/Gutachten/EFI_2011_en_final.pdf.
[41]
Fochmann, M., D. Kiesewetter, and A. Sadrieh. 2012. “Investment Behavior and the Biased Perception of Limited Loss Deduction in Income Taxation” Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 81: 230~242.
[42]
Haufler, A., P-J Norb?ck, and L. Persson. 2014. “Entrepreneurial Innovations and Taxation” Journal of Public Economics, 113: 13~31.
[43]
Hilary, G., and K. Hui. 2009. “Does Religion Matter in Corporate Decision Making in America” Journal of Financial Economics, 93: 455~473.
[44]
John, K., L. Litov, and B. Yeung. 2008. “Corporate Governance and Risk Taking” Journal of Finance, 63: 1679~1728.
[45]
McKinnon, R. 1973. Money and Capital in Economic Development, Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.
[46]
Mossin, J. 1968. “Taxation and Risk-Taking: An Expected Utility Approach” Economica, 35: 74~82.
[47]
Rodrik, D. 1998. “Why do More Open Economies Have Bigger Governments?”Journal of Political Economy,106:997~1032.
[48]
Salanié, B. 2003. The Economics of Taxation, US: MIT Press, Chapter 2.
[49]
Shaw, E. 1973. Financial Deepening in Economic Development, New York: Oxford University Press.
[50]
Song, Z., and C. Hsieh. 2013. “Grasp the Large, Let Go of the Small: The Transformation of the State Sector in China” University of Chicago, Working Paper.
[51]
Stiglitz, J. 1969. “The Effects of Income, Wealth, and Capital Gains Taxation on Risk-Taking” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 83: 263~283.
[52]
Tobin, J. 1958. “Liquidity Preference as Behavior towards Risk” Review of Economic Studies, 25: 65~86.
[53]
Vannoorenberghe, G. 2012. “Firm-Level Volatility and Exports” Journal of International Economics, 86: 57~67.
[54]
Young, A. 2000. “The Razor's Edge: Distortions and Incremental Reform in the Peoples Republic of China” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 115: 1091~1135.
[55]
Yu, M. 2015. “Processing Trade, Tariff Reductions and Firm Productivity: Evidence from Chinese Firms” Economic Journal, 125: 943~988.