Steuerflucht und Steueroasen

The current debate on tax planning has to distinguish between tax evasion and aggressive tax planning. While tax evasion is illegal and requires the enhanced exchange of information, measures against aggressive tax planning seem to be very complex and complicated. Tax havens’ benefits from tax haven activities are inversely related to the intensity of competition among tax havens. Once the set of tax havens narrows, each havens’ share of the business increases and its margins go up. This competition aspect makes initial successes easy but final success very difficult. Nevertheless, some authors argue that action against tax flight is inevitable. As tax flight is a multilateral phenomenon, coordinated initiatives by country groups appear particularly promising. Here the EU should be in the vanguard. Only automatic information exchange generates the transparency and leeway needed to eliminate income tax evasion and to permit countries to devise tax codes at their own discretion. Despite the European trend towards lower corporate taxes, an empirical analysis shows that German multinationals have increased their tax haven activities. Recent research suggests that this development might be explained by the increased usage of anti-tax avoidance measures by high-tax countries. The substitutive nature of different tax-avoidance schemes indicates that only a coordinated closing of loopholes for profit shifting would reduce the demand for tax-haven operations significantly.     

Does the WTO Increase Trade and Cause Convergence?

We study whether proximity to the nearest tax haven affects FDI and the number of American affiliates in a tax haven. Our results show that distance to the nearest tax haven is positively related to FDI inflows and the number of American affiliates in tax havens. These findings suggest that there is harmful competition between tax havens. We also find evidence of positive spillovers: the number of American affiliates in a tax haven is positively related to the number of affiliates in its closest neighboring tax haven. This suggests the presence of agglomeration benefits given there is an affiliate in a nearby tax haven.     

Corporate governance and returns to emerging economy firm acquisitions in tax havens: An empirical test on Indian firms

Cross‐border acquisitions (CBAs) by emerging economy firms are known to yield positive stockholder returns. A nontrivial fraction of CBAs by emerging economy firms are in tax havens. We argue because of weak corporate governance in emerging economies and the secrecy afforded by tax havens, emerging economy firm CBAs in tax havens yield lower stockholder returns than their CBAs in nontax havens. We also argue the negative effect of tax haven destinations is greater for firms with greater business group ownership and for firms with greater foreign insider ownership. Furthermore, we argue the negative effect of tax haven destinations is mitigated for firms whose stock is actively traded in the market. Empirical tests in a sample of nearly 800 CBAs by Indian firms from 2002 to 2011 support our hypotheses. Our study contributes to a better understanding of stockholder returns to CBAs by emerging economy firms and the influence of corporate governance on these returns.     

Business Groups and Tax Havens

Setting up affiliated companies in tax havens is a legitimate, but ethically dubious, business practice. This study examines the conditions under which emerging business groups tend to use such a business practice. Business groups in emerging economies have been operating in weak institutional environments with substantial government intervention and ineffective market-supporting institutions. Having offshore companies in tax havens enables the groups to bypass some market transaction costs and institutional constraints, and it also provides them the opportunity to evade taxes and hide illegal conduct, such as bribery. Empirical evidence based on a sample of Taiwanese business groups showed that business groups with a higher level of prosocial orientation established fewer offshore companies in tax havens, as manifested by their commitment of resources to establishing nonprofit organizations. In contrast, groups that have higher levels of product and international diversification tend to use this ethically dubious business practice. However, highly internationalized groups are less likely to do so when they have committed substantial resources to prosocial activities.     

Imperfect tax competition for profits, asymmetric equilibrium and beneficial tax havens

We present a model of tax competition for real investment and profits and show that the presence of tax havens in some cases increases the tax revenue of countries. In the first part of the paper, we argue that tax competition for profits is likely to be imperfect in the sense that the jurisdiction with the lowest tax rate does not necessarily attract all shifted profits. Under this assumption, tax competition between a large number of identical countries may lead to either a symmetric equilibrium with no profit shifting or an asymmetric equilibrium where firms shift profits from high-tax to low-tax countries. In the second part of the paper, we introduce tax havens. Starting from a symmetric equilibrium, tax havens unambiguously reduce the tax revenue of countries due to a ‘leakage effect’ — tax havens attract tax base from countries — and a ’competition effect’ — the optimal response to the increased tax sensitivity of tax bases involves a reduction of tax rates. Starting from an asymmetric equilibrium, however, tax havens also raise the tax revenue of countries through a ’crowding effect’ — tax havens make it less attractive to compete for profits and thus induce low-tax countries to become high-tax countries. We demonstrate that the latter effect may dominate the former effects so that countries, on balance, benefit from the presence of tax havens.     

Are ASEAN Countries Havens for Japanese Pollution‐Intensive Industry?

In an era of closer worldwide economic integration, the role that environmental regulations play in shaping a country's comparative advantage is greater than ever. This has led to fears that ‘dirty’ firms will relocate from developed to developing countries where environmental regulations may be less stringent – the so‐called pollution haven hypothesis. To date, however, there is little support for the existence of pollution havens despite anecdotal evidence and the theoretical predictions. In this paper we employ a unique industry‐level dataset for Japan and examine whether Japanese industries have relocated production to their ASEAN neighbours in response to the relative stringency of Japanese environmental regulations. Not only do we find no evidence for pollution‐haven‐consistent behaviour but also some indication that the complex relationship between the characteristics of Japanese dirty industries and environmental regulations may actually have reduced Japanese outward FDI to the Philippines.     

贸易开放视角下的地区税收竞争与经济增长--来自中国的经验证据

经济全球化的深入使得一国之内税收竞争的增长效应更多地受制于对外开放因素的影响。本文基于2000－2013年中国29个省（市）的面板数据,旨在从贸易开放的视角实证考察税收竞争对经济增长的影响及作用机制。两阶段最小二乘法（2 SLS ）的研究结果表明,在影响区域经济增长方面,贸易开放与地区间税收竞争存在一定程度的策略替代性;面板门限模型（ PTR）的运用,发现不同区域贸易开放度存在较大差异,从而形成税收竞争增长的类“N”效应。在考虑到贸易开放度区域异质的情形下,地区税收竞争依旧是促进区域经济增长的重要政策工具,注重税收竞争对政策工具的“精准”投放。     

Multiple interpretations of “national culture” and the implications for International business: The case of Taiwan

This paper considers the implications for international business of cases whereby a country may have two, or more, conflicting interpretations of its “national culture”. A case study of the different ways in which Taiwanese self-initiated expatriates of the benshengren and waishengren social categories use their status as “Taiwanese” to do business in London suggests that the varying interpretations which people of the same national origin and ethnic group have of their “national culture”, as a symbol of identity, affects the social resources they can use. The paper concludes by considering new directions for studying national culture in international business, and for re-evaluating earlier research.     

Tax Morale and International Tax Evasion

Low tax morale is associated with domestic tax evasion. We find evidence of cross-border equity flows designed to evade taxes in low tax morale countries. Using Foreign Portfolio Equity Investment (FPI) flows into 21 OECD countries from 138 source countries and an index of tax morale from the World Value Survey (WVS), we show that individuals in countries with low tax morale engage in tax evasion via roundtripping through tax havens. This allows them to benefit from differential taxes applied to foreign investors vis-a-vis domestic investors. Our results remain robust to various measures of tax morale and distinct subsamples.     

Tax haven networks and the role of the Big 4 accountancy firms

This paper investigates the association between the Big 4 accountancy firms and the extent to which multinational enterprises build, manage and maintain their networks of tax haven subsidiaries. We extend internalisation theory and derive a number of hypotheses that are tested using count models on firm-level data. Our key findings demonstrate that there is a strong correlation and causal link between the size of an MNE’s tax haven network and their use of the Big 4. We therefore argue that public policy related to the role of auditors can have a significant impact on the tax avoidance behaviour of MNEs.     

“营改增”政策对上市公司会计稳健性的影响——基于我国沪深A股上市公司样本的实证研究

制度环境是影响企业会计信息质量的重要因素。基于我国营改增改革实践,利用双重差分法研究营改增政策对企业会计稳健性的影响效应及作用路径,并进一步考察企业特征对上述影响效应的异质性。研究表明:营改增政策有助于缓解企业融资约束、降低企业税收负担,同时滋生企业高管攫取超额薪酬,进而降低企业会计稳健性。异质性检验表明,在非国有企业、年轻企业以及高成长性企业中,营改增降低会计稳健性的政策效应更加显著。本文的研究结论对“十三五”规划提出的进一步深化财税体制改革,提高经济运行信息的及时性和准确性具有借鉴意义。     

The ambitious entrepreneur: High growth strategies of women-owned enterprises

During the last two decades, researchers have sought to develop categories of entrepreneurs and their businesses along a variety of dimensions to better comprehend and analyze the entrepreneurial growth process. Some of this research has focused on differences related to industrial sectors, firm size, the geographical region in which a business is located, the use of high-technology or low-technology, and the life-cycle stage of the firm (i.e., start-up vs. more mature, formalized companies). Researchers have also considered ways in which entrepreneurs can be differentiated from small business managers. One of these classifications is based on the entrepreneur's desire to grow the business rapidly. This is the focus of our study.To date, the media have paid considerable attention to rapidly growing new ventures. However, still lacking are large-scale research studies guided by theory through which we can expand our knowledge of the underlying factors supporting ambitious expansion plans. Some research has identified factors that enhance or reduce the willingness of the entrepreneur to grow the business. Factors include the strategic origin of the business (i.e., the methods and paths through which the firm was founded); previous experience of the founder/owner; and the ability of the entrepreneur to set realistic, measurable goals and to manage conflict effectively.Our study attempted to identify the strategic paths chosen by entrepreneurs and the relation of those paths to the growth orientation of the firm. The entrepreneurs sampled in this study are women entrepreneurs across a wide range of industrial sectors. Recent reviews of entrepreneurship research have suggested the need for more studies comparing high-growth firms with slower-growth firms to better delineate their differences in strategic choices and behaviors.Our study sought to answer the following questions: What characterizes a “high growth-oriented entrepreneur?” Is this distinction associated with specific strategic intentions, prior experience, equity held in previous firms, the type of company structure in place, or success factors the entrepreneur perceives are important to the business? Do “high growth” entrepreneurs show greater entrepreneurial “intensity” (i.e., commitment to the firm's success)? Are they willing to “pay the price” for their own and their firm's success? (i.e., the “opportunity costs” associated with business success and growth). Other relationships under investigation included different patterns of financing the business' start-up and early growth. Do “high-growth” entrepreneurs use unique sources of funding compared with “lower-growth” entrepreneurs?Eight hundred thirty-two entrepreneurs responded to a survey in which they were asked to describe their growth intentions along nineteen strategic dimensions, as well as respond to the foregoing questions. Some of the strategic activity measures included adding a new product or service, expanding operations, selling to a new market, and applying for a loan to expand operations. Actual growth rates based on sales revenues were calculated, and average annualized growth rates of the industrial sectors represented in the sample were obtained. This study showed that high-growth-oriented entrepreneurs were clearly different from low-growth-oriented entrepreneurs along several dimensions. The former were much more likely to select strategies for their firms that permitted greater focus on market expansion and new technologies, to exhibit greater intensity towards business ownership (“my business is the most important activity in my life”), and to be willing to incur greater opportunity costs for the success of their firms (“I would rather own my own business than earn a higher salary while employed by someone else”).The high-growth–oriented entrepreneurs tended to have a more structured approach to organizing their businesses, which suggests a more disciplined perception of managing the firm. In summary, results showed the group of high-growth–oriented entrepreneurs, labeled “ambitious,” as having the following distinctions: strategic intentions that emphasize market growth and technological change, stronger commitment to the success of the business, greater willingness to sacrifice on behalf of the business, earlier planning for the growth of the business, utilization of a team-based form of organization design, concern for reputation and quality, adequate capitalization, strong leadership, and utilization of a wider range of financing sources for the expansion of the venture. The purpose in uncovering these differences is to enable entrepreneurs and researchers to identify more clearly the attributes of rapid-growth ventures and their founders and to move closer to a field-based model of the entrepreneurial growth process which will help delineate the alternative paths to venture growth and organizational change.     

Lessons from Japan: American and Japanese strategies and goals in the 1990s

This article recounts various Japanese business approaches touted in the 1980s as “Lessons from Japan” for U.S. managers. The logical expectation, given the sheer bulk of the literature, was that U.S. managers would become more “Japanese” in their business strategies and goals while the Japanese would have become more entrenched in their approaches. Questionnaire responses from 95 Japanese and 70 American firms suggest, however, that U.S. managers tend to make few shifts from the strategies and goals they emphasized in the 1980s. Meanwhile Japanese managers report that they expect to move toward more “American” business practices. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Competitive Marketing Strategies: A Survey of Japanese Manufacturing Firms' Competitive Performance in the British Market

The role of Japanese corporations in world markets has become so crucial that an understanding of the rules of competition employed by the Japanese is essential for all those involved in international business. The aim of this survey was to gain an insight into the role marketing plays in affecting the competitive position of Japanese firms in the British market. In particular the researcher focused on the overall approach of Japanese companies to the marketplace and the process by which they identify and bring products to the market.

The broad findings emerging from this study present few surprises, Japanese companies do not seem to suffer from a “sales orientation”, a “production orientation” or “finance orientation” as opposed to a “marketing orientation”. The in‐roads being made into the British market are based by and large on a strategy aimed at satisfying customer needs and wants. Japanese companies saw their strengths in placing emphasis on research and engineering and bringing the right product to the market quickly and decisively.     

How Hybrids Manage Growth and Social–Business Tensions in Global Supply Chains: The Case of Impact Sourcing

This study contributes to the growing interest in how hybrid organizations manage paradoxical social–business tensions. Our empirical case is “impact sourcing”—hybrids in global supply chains that hire staff from disadvantaged communities to provide services to business clients. We identify two major growth orientations—“community-focused” and “client-focused” growth—their inherent tensions and ways that hybrids manage them. The former favors slow growth and manages tensions through highly integrated client and community relations; the latter promotes faster growth and manages client and community relations separately. Both growth orientations address social–business tensions in particular ways, but also create latent constraints that manifest when entrepreneurial aspirations conflict with the current growth path. In presenting and discussing our findings, we introduce preempting management practices of tensions, and the importance of geographic embeddedness and distance to the paradox literature.     

How to Create Effective Ad Copy for the Small Service Organization

ABSTRACT

This paper reports the results of a study that examined two factors that influenced the individual's selection of an accountant: The qualifications that the accountant may hold and the accountants membership of a professional accounting body.

In Australia, any person can hang a shingle outside their door calling themselves an ?accountant.” In contrast, the law dictates that a doctor of medicine can only use the title “doctor” when he/she has tertiary qualifications and registers with the relevant Health Departments throughout Australia.

Let's be clear on the term accountant–there are accountants in public practice who offer themselves to the public to perform a wide range of duties from income tax preparation, auditing and financial advice. Then there is the accountant who is employed internally in a business to keep the financial reins. It is the accountant who offers public accounting services that this study concerns itself.

Prior research studies conducted in this area are examined for relevance to the study and to determine if the results concur with the outcomes of this study.

The managerial implications of the results are discussed considering the confusion and perceptions that arose with the meaning of “qualification” and “professional body membership.”     

Technology Innovation and New Business Models: Can Logistics and Supply Chain Research Accelerate the Evolution?

Businesses today are facing an unprecedented rate of change by virtue of disruptive technologies – many of which are focused on achieving “reach” efficiently in the marketplace. Organizations must evolve their business models to leverage the opportunities presented with the advent of these technologies, yet the pathways to success and failure remain unclear. Researchers of logistics and supply chain management find themselves on the front lines for these exciting developments. As editors, we encourage the research community to “get ahead” of business actions, inform strategy, and shape the next generation of competition.     

Can Social Exclusion Against “Older Entrepreneurs” Be Managed?

This paper investigates how sources of social exclusion and support emerge within an “older” entrepreneur's immediate environment, and how this affects the development of their small business. Based on 22 in‐depth interviews in London, United Kingdom, we suggest how older entrepreneurs with different backgrounds are able to manage social exclusion, and identify four coping strategies—passive negotiation, active negotiation, modification, and avoidance. We argue that, if “older entrepreneurship” (people starting a business aged 50 or older) is to flourish, both entrepreneurs and support initiatives need to become sensitive to the diversity of sources of discrimination and strategies to manage them.     

Do taxes influence the organizational boundaries of international firms? An incomplete-contracting model with empirical evidence

Firms that import intermediate goods choose between outsourcing and vertical integration. When corporate tax rates differ between the home country and the foreign country, the possibility of shifting income and reducing overall tax payments through transfer pricing makes integration more attractive than outsourcing. This paper develops an incomplete-contracting model in which an international firm facing tax rate differentials chooses whether or not to internalize intermediate transactions in order to trade off production efficiency and tax minimization. By shifting economic activities across borders, an integrated multinational enterprise establishes a proper transfer price and reaches the optimal profit-splitting arrangement that maximizes its total after-tax profit. This paper finds that cross-country differences in corporate tax rates and product intangibility play important roles in affecting firms’ internalization decision. Empirical analysis employing the US data also supports the theoretical findings. The positive correlation of the integration level of US firms and tax rate differentials between the US and foreign countries remains in the sample excluding tax havens.     

Wettbewerb zwischen wirtschaftspolitischen Modellen in Europa

In 2000 the European Union adopted its motto, of “Unity in diversity”. But in fact, economic policy regimes differ among member states and the people are not willing to leave the current path or to vote for painful political actions. In the midst of the present crisis, Europe is at the crossroads. Should people decide on a new constitution which allows more centralisation of powers, or should the principle of subsidiarity be reinforced? Problems in the eurozone intensified the coordination and monitoring of economic policy of the member states. The preconditions for a competition among different economic policy regimes vanish more and more. Institutional competition is not only price (tax) competition, but also quality (yardstick) competition. This is shown using debt brakes as a role model for other member countries of the European Union. But the debt brakes of the German Länder show that it can be problematic to transfer an institution from one country to another without taking into account its institutional environment.