Do Corporate Taxes Hinder Innovation?

61 Pages Posted: 3 Nov 2014 Last revised: 13 Feb 2019

See all articles by Abhiroop Mukherjee

Abhiroop Mukherjee

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Manpreet Singh

Georgia Institute of Technology

Alminas Zaldokas

Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST) - Department of Finance; National University of Singapore (NUS) - Sustainable & Green Finance Institute (SGFIN)

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: May 25, 2015

Abstract

We exploit staggered changes in state-level corporate tax rates to show that an increase in taxes reduces future innovation. A variety of tests, including those based on policy discontinuity at contiguous counties straddling borders of politically similar states, show that local economic conditions do not drive our results. The effect we document is consistent across the innovation spectrum: taxes affect not only patenting and R\&D investment but also new product introductions, which we measure using textual analysis. Our empirical results are consistent with models that highlight the role of higher corporate taxes in reducing innovator incentives and discouraging risk-taking.

Keywords: Innovation, Patents, Research and Development, New Products, Corporate Taxes

JEL Classification: G30, G38, H25, O31

Suggested Citation

Mukherjee, Abhiroop and Singh, Manpreet and Zaldokas, Alminas, Do Corporate Taxes Hinder Innovation? (May 25, 2015). Paris December 2015 Finance Meeting EUROFIDAI - AFFI, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2365980 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2365980

Abhiroop Mukherjee

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Manpreet Singh

Georgia Institute of Technology ( email )

800 W Peachtree St NW
Room 4162
Atlanta, GA 30308
United States
+14043855330 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.manpreets.com

Alminas Zaldokas (Contact Author)

Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST) - Department of Finance ( email )

Clear Water Bay, Kowloon
Hong Kong

National University of Singapore (NUS) - Sustainable & Green Finance Institute (SGFIN) ( email )

Singapore

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
818
Abstract Views
27,766
Rank
30,909
PlumX Metrics