Foreign Ownership and Corporate Income Taxation: An Empirical Evaluation

46 Pages Posted: 20 Aug 2003

See all articles by Harry Huizinga

Harry Huizinga

Tilburg University - Center for Economic Research (CentER); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Gaëtan Nicodème

Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) - Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management; CEPR and CESifo The views expressed in the article are those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Commission.

Date Written: June 2003

Abstract

Economic integration in Europe has not led to a 'race to the bottom' regarding corporate income taxes. This Paper documents trends in the foreign ownership of companies in Europe and examines whether foreign ownership has exerted a positive influence on corporate income tax levels. Using company-level data, we document that foreign ownership share in Europe stood at around 21.5% in the year 2000. The estimation suggests that a one percentage point increase in foreign ownership increases the average corporate income tax rate between 0.5-1%. Further international economic integration is likely to lead to higher foreign ownership shares with a concomitant positive influence on corporate taxation levels.

Keywords: Foreign ownership, corporate taxation, tax competition

JEL Classification: F21, H25

Suggested Citation

Huizinga, Harry and Nicodeme, Gaetan, Foreign Ownership and Corporate Income Taxation: An Empirical Evaluation (June 2003). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=436988

Harry Huizinga (Contact Author)

Tilburg University - Center for Economic Research (CentER) ( email )

P.O. Box 90153
Tilburg, 5000 LE
Netherlands
+31 13 466 2623 (Phone)
+31 13 466 3042 (Fax)

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

Gaetan Nicodeme

Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) - Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management ( email )

50 Avenue Roosevelt
Brussels 1050
Belgium

CEPR and CESifo The views expressed in the article are those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Commission.

No Address Available

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