Taxation and Corporate Investment: The Impact of the 1991 Swedish Tax Reform

37 Pages Posted: 30 Jun 2000 Last revised: 7 Sep 2022

See all articles by Alan J. Auerbach

Alan J. Auerbach

University of California, Berkeley - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute for Economic Research)

Kevin A. Hassett

American Enterprise Institute (AEI)

Jan Sodersten

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Date Written: July 1995

Abstract

In 1990, the government of Sweden introduced a major tax reform to take effect in 1991. The Swedish system prior to the legislation was so complex that the size and magnitude of the likely effects of the reform on incentives to invest were unknown. In this paper, we draw on Södersten (1989) and Auerbach and Hassett (1992) and derive an expression for the user cost of capital that captures the essential features of the Swedish tax code both before and after the reform. We estimate the model for investment in equipment and find that the responsiveness of Swedish firms to the user cost is quite similar to that found for the U.S. Finally, we employ our model and estimates to assess the effects of the 1991 reform. We find that the impact of the reform on investment is likely to have been minor and had little to do with the contemporaneous sharp drop in investment.

Suggested Citation

Auerbach, Alan Jeffrey and Hassett, Kevin A. and Sodersten, Jan, Taxation and Corporate Investment: The Impact of the 1991 Swedish Tax Reform (July 1995). NBER Working Paper No. w5189, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=225252

Alan Jeffrey Auerbach (Contact Author)

University of California, Berkeley - Department of Economics ( email )

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National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) ( email )

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CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute for Economic Research)

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Kevin A. Hassett

American Enterprise Institute (AEI) ( email )

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Washington, DC 20036
United States
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202.862.7177 (Fax)

Jan Sodersten

affiliation not provided to SSRN

No Address Available

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