Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
2007
Abstract
Many countries tax corporate income heavily despite the incentives that they face to reduce tax rates in order to attract greater investment, particularly investment from foreign sources. The volume of world foreign direct investment (FDI) has grown enormously since 1980, thereby increasing a country's ability to attract significant levels of new investment by reducing corporate taxation. The evidence indicates, however, that corporate tax collections are remarkably persistent relative to gross domestic product ( GDP), government revenues, or other indicators of underlying economic activity or government need. If this were not true- if corporate income taxation were rapidly disappearing around the world - then such a development might be easily explained by pointing to competitive pressures to attract foreign investment and retain domestic investment. Hence, the question remains why growing international capital mobility has not significantly reduced reliance on corporate income taxation.
Publication Information & Recommended Citation
Hines, James R., Jr. "Corporate Taxation and International Competition." In Taxing Corporate Income in the 21st Century, edited by A. J. Auerbach, J. R. Hines Jr., and J. Slemrod, 268-95. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2007.
Included in
Business Organizations Law Commons, Taxation-Federal Commons, Taxation-Transnational Commons