مقاله انگلیسی رایگان در مورد اثرگذاری تغییرات نرخ مالیات درآمد شرکت بر نوآوری شرکت – الزویر 2024

Abstract

The relationship between corporate income tax rates and innovation is a critical international issue. Existing studies often overlook the potential mechanisms of market competition and productivity heterogeneity. This paper addresses these gaps by integrating these elements into a unified mathematical analysis framework. Using China’s corporate income tax reform as a quasi-natural experiment, this study empirically tests the model. The findings reveal that decreases in tax rates significantly foster innovation, while increases have the opposite effect. The underlying mechanism involves market competition, with the impact of tax changes being more pronounced in firms with higher productivity. This study deepens the understanding of the nexus between corporate income tax and innovation, providing new insights to refine tax policies that promote innovative economic development globally.

Introduction

The adjustment of corporate income tax rates significantly impacts economic dynamics, influencing corporate investment strategies and innovation activities. Prior research underscores innovation’s crucial role in driving long-term economic growth and delineates the foundational contributions of tax policies to shaping economic landscapes, highlighting the substantial influences of tax adjustments on both resource allocation and innovative outputs [1–4]. Particularly, China’s monumental corporate income tax reform (CITR) in 2008, which standardized tax rates across domestic and foreign entities, provides a unique empirical setting to explore these effects due to its global economic stature and rapid development. This study critically evaluates how CITR influences corporate innovation by dissecting the direct and indirect mechanisms through which tax changes affect firms’ operational and strategic behaviors. Leveraging China’s 2008 CITR as a quasi-natural experiment, this research not only enhances understanding of the dynamic interactions between tax policies and corporate innovation activities but also informs precise, data-driven policy making to stimulate economic and innovative growth. Through a comprehensive analysis, informed by the empirical data from the CITR [5], this investigation is pivotal for its potential to guide global economic policy, given the scale of China’s economy and the extensive implications of its tax reforms.

Previous studies, such as those by Atanassov & Liu (2020) and Akcigit et al. (2022), have extensively explored how changes in corporate income tax rates impact corporate innovation directly, primarily through adjustments in funding and cost structures [6,7]. However, these studies have tended to overlook the indirect pathways through which tax policies affect innovation, particularly the mediating role of market dynamics. Additionally, there is a notable gap in understanding how these tax effects vary among firms with different levels of productivity. This oversight forms the basis of our research motivation, leading us to investigate the broader and more nuanced impacts of tax rate changes.

Results and discussion

4.1 Basic regression
Baseline results. In our baseline regression analysis, we rigorously evaluated the overarching impact of CITR on innovation, as detailed in Table 3. Initial results from columns (1)–(3), utilizing PAC as the dependent variable, reveal that the beneficial impact of a tax decrease (Tax-down#Post08) on PAC, though somewhat diminished with the progressive inclusion of control variables and bidirectional fixed effects, remains statistically significant at the 1 % level. This suggests that the reduction in corporate tax rate notably enhances corporate innovation, evidenced by a 7.31 % increase in PAC. Conversely, the detrimental impact of a tax increase (Tax-up#Post08) on PAC progressively intensifies and is also significant at the 1 % level, reflecting a substantial 9.08 % reduction in PAC due to the heightened corporate tax rate. Further analyses presented in columns (4)–(6), with PGC as the dependent variable, align with these findings. A decrease in the corporate income tax rate (Tax-down#Post08) significantly boosts PGC by 8.89 %, whereas an increase (Tax-up#Post08) correspondingly depresses PGC by 6.91 %.