Does Taxation Stifle Corporate Investment? Firm-Level Evidence from ASEAN Countries
28 Pages Posted: 14 Mar 2018
Date Written: March 2018
Abstract
This paper conducts a firm-level analysis of the effect of taxation on corporate investment patterns in member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Using large-scale panel data on nonfinancial firms over the period 1990-2014, and controlling for macro-structural differences among countries, we find a significant degree of persistence infirms' net fixed investments over time, which vary with firm characteristics, such as size, sales, profitability, leverage, and age. Our analysis brings up interesting empirical results, including nonlinear patterns of behavior in firms' capital investment decisions acrosss ASEAN countries. Concerning the main variable of interest, we find that a moderate level of taxation does not hinder business investment, but this effect turns negative as higher tax burden raises the user cost of capital and distorts resource allocations.
Keywords: Investment, Corporate income tax, leverage, firm performance
JEL Classification: E22, E51
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation