服务化水平、实际税负与营改增政策的财富效应——基于微观层面的经验证据

文章从微观视角出发,构建双重差分模型,检验营改增政策对试点企业实际税负和绩效水平形成的经济后果,以及试点企业的服务化水平对上述关系的影响。研究发现,第一,营改增政策有助于降低试点企业整体实际税负;第二,营改增政策实施后,试点企业的实际税负降低使得企业绩效水平提升,实现国家与企业之间的财富转移效应;第三,试点企业服务化水平越高,营改增政策降低企业实际税负,进而促进企业绩效提升的效果更加明显,即营改增政策实现的财富效应更强。进一步检验发现,营改增政策有助于促使试点企业改善经营效率,提高自身财富创造能力,增强营改增政策的财富创造效应。     

For goodwill or resources? The rationale behind firms' corporate philanthropy in an environment with high economic policy uncertainty

This paper investigates the impact of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) on the corporate philanthropy (CP) behaviors of firms using a dataset from Chinese A-share listed firms. We find that, on average, firms decrease their CP significantly when economic policy uncertainty increases, but the response is heterogeneous for firms with different ownership types. Compared with their counterparts, private firms are willing to contribute more donations in an environment with high economic policy uncertainty. Further analysis shows that private firms take on more other types of corporate social responsibility at the same time, and private firms' additional CP in a high EPU environment is rewarded with more subsidies, indicating that altruistic and political motives may play important roles in driving the CP behaviors of private firms. There is no evidence that private firms selling products directly to consumers are more likely to engage in additional CP. Our findings indicate that the main motivation behind Chinese private firms' additional CP under high economic policy uncertainty is seeking more government resources, instead of keeping consumers loyal by maintaining good reputations during hard periods.     

How does the development of digital finance affect small business tax compliance? Empirical evidence from China

How will the development of digital finance affect corporate tax compliance? In the digital economic age, this is a crucial issue. Using the 2011–2015 national tax survey database (NTSD) and the Peking University digital finance index, this paper examines the causal relationship between digital finance and small business tax compliance. Our baseline results show that each standard deviation increase in the digital finance index reduces the level of tax noncompliance by 7.5% for small businesses. We exclude the interference of contemporaneous policies, utilize a specification design based on neighboring cities across provincial borders, and employ instrumental variable estimation methods to jointly alleviate concerns about endogeneity. Furthermore, mechanism analysis shows that digital finance impacts small business tax noncompliance by easing corporate financing constraints and capturing tax-related “digital information”. Finally, we analyze the heterogeneous effects of digital finance development. The effects on tax noncompliance are weaker for large firms (placebo group), small businesses supported by the government's industrial policy, and small businesses located in poor credit environment areas.     

The complicit role of local government authorities in corporate bribery: Evidence from a tax collection reform in China

In January 2002, China decided to centralize corporate income tax collection, shifting the collection authority from the local tax bureaus (LTBs) to the state tax bureaus (STBs), for all firms established after December 31, 2001. We exploit this exogenous shock to identify a new cause for corporate bribery, namely, the complicit role of local government authorities. We find that firms whose income taxes are still collected by LTBs after the reform bribe more than similar firms whose taxes are collected by STBs. Such effects are more pronounced for firms located in provinces where government intervention is more prevalent and where judicial system is less independent. Moreover, we find that firms whose taxes are collected by LTBs enjoy lower tax burdens and receive greater tax-related subsidies, especially when they bribe more. Overall, our results highlight the reciprocation between local government authorities and firms in determining corporate bribery.     

我国企业税负“痛感”凸显之谜探析

近两年来我国企业税负"痛感"的凸显再次引发了社会各界对我国企业税负水平轻重的热议。基于各种数据、方法以及视角得出的多种结论纷至沓来、莫衷一是。文章从辨析企业税负的概念入手,说明由于受多种可比因素的限制,对企业税负水平进行国际间的横向比较得到的结论仅仅是一个事实判断而非价值判断。我国企业税负在近两年"痛感"凸显,是企业税负增加以及伴随着经济形势下行而来的产能过剩、职工工资总额上升以及税负转嫁困难等多种因素共同交织的结果。     

Tax incentive and corporate financial performance: Evidence from income tax revenue sharing reform in China

How to stimulate corporate performance is a crucial issue of general concern in all countries. This paper examines how China’s Income Tax Revenue Sharing Reform in 2002 affects corporate financial performance. Unlike general tax policies that directly adjust the nominal tax rate or depreciation allowance, this reform indirectly affects the effective Enterprise Income Tax (EIT) rate by switching tax administration, thereby affecting corporate financial performance. We use a firm-level data-set from Annual Survey of Industrial Firms (ASIF), and test the impact by using a quasi-natural experimental design through regression discontinuity design (RDD). We find that after the reform, the effective EIT rate (ETR) of enterprises collected EIT by State Administration of Taxation (SAT) was 10% lower than that of enterprises collected EIT by the Local Administration of Taxation (LAT). If the ETR reduces by 1%, corporate financial performance, more specific, Return on Asset (ROA), increases by 1.7%. There are two available channels: increasing fixed asset investment (FAI), and alleviating external financial constraints. Additionally, the impact can be weakened for locally SOEs, large firms, firms with low SA index and those in less competitive industries.     

货币政策不确定性与企业现金持有——现金股利视角的新解释

研究利用中国A股上市公司样本,系统探讨了货币政策不确定性对企业现金持有策略的影响.研究发现:随着货币政策不确定性的提高,企业现金持有水平降低.深入研究发现货币政策不确定性对企业现金持有策略的影响主要通过现金股利渠道发挥作用,即在货币政策不确定性较高时期,企业持有的现金更多用于支持现金股利分配,籍此向市场传递积极信号.进一步研究排除了投资机会与代理成本等潜在干扰因素的影响,并且结合产权性质差异的分析发现货币政策不确定性对于非国有企业现金持有策略的影响更为明显.研究一方面基于不确定性视角为货币政策如何影响企业现金管理策略提出了新解释——现金股利渠道,有助于更好地理解我国上市公司的现金持有策略;另一方面也说明货币政策频繁调整所导致的货币政策不确定性很可能是加剧实体经济经营风险的宏观诱因.     

The potential impact of abolishing company tax in Ciskei

The purpose of this paper is to examine the likely effect of the abolition of company tax on the Ciskeian economy. After considering the case for and against a corporate tax exemption, the issues involved are analysed on two levels. Using aggregate data, drawn from available census data, we find that most firms seem likely either to prefer the existing package of industrial concessions to the tax holiday, or to be indifferent to either option. Similarly, a recent survey of manufacturing enterprises in Ciskei indicated that the majority would prefer the incentive package. Firms that might be attracted by the tax‐free option are likely to be relatively profitable, subsidiaries of multinational companies, and enjoying a higher turnover per worker than firms opting for the incentive package.     

Corporate income tax compliance: A time series analysis

How extensive is corporate income tax noncompliance and how responsive is it to policy tools such as penalties, audits, and tax rates? This paper analyzes aggregate time series data on corporate compliance in an attempt to answer these questions. The results show audits to be an effective deterrent to noncompliance but cast doubt on the presumption that higher penalities or lower tax rates lead to improved compliance.     

Are export tax rebates patronage for Chinese firms? An analysis of productivity

This paper examines the nexus between export tax rebates and productivity using Chinese firm-level data from 2000 to 2007. The empirical findings indicate that a one percentage point decrease in export tax rebate rates increases the total factor productivity (TFP) of a firm by about 0.1 percentage points. We explore the possible mechanisms that explain this nexus and attribute it to the allocation effect of export tax rebate policy; that is, export tax rebates prevent low-productivity firms from exiting the market and further reallocate resources and economic activities to them. In addition, a decrease in rebate rates significantly encourages the TFP growth of surviving firms and leads to an increase in aggregate TFP. Specifically, throughout 2000–07, the declining rebate rates accounted for 5.23% of the rise in the aggregate TFP, and the between-firm effect was 3.85%, which is much larger than the within effect.     

Preferential corporate income tax treatment: Valuation in the market portfolio

In the setting of the market portfolio, the impacts of preferential corporate income tax treatments through the valuational reduction for risk are opposite to and offset the impacts through the expected proceeds. This suggests that focusing on the absolute valuation of tax-favored firms results in the undermeasurement of implicit taxes on returns on investments in tax-favored firms and the relative valuation with reference to fully taxed (i.e., tax-disfavored) benchmark firms be used. In addition, corporate income taxes imposed on entities and capital income taxes imposed on investors have opposite valuational effects through the endogenously derived market-aggregate aversion to risk.     

经济政策不确定性、企业融资行为与多元化经营策略

基于2003-2018年的上市公司数据,分析了经济政策不确定性对企业多元化经营策略的影响。研究结果表明：经济政策不确定性与企业多元化经营之间存在着显著的负相关关系,并且经过一系列的稳健性检验,上述结论仍然成立;异质性分析发现,经济政策不确定性与企业多元化之间的负相关关系在非国有企业和小型企业中表现的更为明显,另外,货币和财政政策不确定性也都与企业多元化经营之间存在着负相关关系;机制分析发现经济政策不确定性加剧了企业的融资约束进而不利于企业的多元化经营,具体地,相较于股权融资,企业债权融资是经济政策不确定性影响企业多元化经营的中介因素,并且在非国有企业和小企业中,这种关系依然存在。研究丰富了宏观经济政策对微观企业行为影响的研究,对企业经营策略选择具有现实意义。     

Tax and leverage: Evidence from China

This study exploits two institutional features of China to test the causal link between tax and capital structure. First, the central government exclusively determines the corporate tax rate in China, which results in changes in corporate income tax rates across different Chinese public firms over the period of 2000–2011. Such mandatory tax shifts provide a quasi-natural experimental setting for our difference-in-differences analysis investigating the impact of tax on leverage. We find evidence supporting the dynamic trade-off theory, namely that firms are unresponsive to tax cuts but increase long-term leverage when taxes rise (particularly those in low statutory tax regimes). Second, governmental intervention in capital allocation is common in China such that political connections are usually regarded as an asset for firms in accessing bank loans. Using anti-corruption events as shocks to the value of political connections over the sample period, our research is the first study to show that political connections become a liability that enables banks to recall loans from affected firms during the anti-corruption campaign periods. This change overturns the typical tax-leverage relationship observed, as we find anti-corruption affected firms reduce long-term leverage when taxes are cut and they become insensitive to tax increases. Our results reveal the importance of political ties in explaining how firms adjust their capital structure to tax changes, which is extremely relevant to policy makers and regulators when monitoring bank loan markets.     

Does tax deduction relax financing constraints? Evidence from China's value-added tax reform

Financial constraint is a significant obstacle for firm growth, especially in developing countries where credit is scarce. This paper explores the role of tax policy in relaxing firms' financial constraints by exploiting China's value-added tax (VAT) reform that was initiated in 2004 and completed in 2009. We use a quasi-experimental method and Annual Survey of Industrial Firms (ASIF) data from 2000 to 2009 to estimate the VAT reform's policy effects on financial constraints. We show that the VAT reform significantly improves firms' external financing capacity by decreasing borrowing costs and promoting commercial credit. The findings are robust to alternative specifications but show heterogeneity across ownerships, firm sizes, regions, and between export and non-export firms. Our analysis suggests tax deduction is useful to relax firms' financial constraints.     

上市公司税负及其影响因素——来自沪深股市的经验证据

我们以1994～2004年全国上市公司9536组数据为样本,考察上市公司税负及其影响因素,结果发现:①上市公司税负至少占利润的62.04%,上市公司总体税负并不轻;②上市公司总体税负存在地区差异,东部地区税负高于中部和西部地区;③上市公司总体税负存在行业差异,2004年度采掘业、房地产业等五个行业平均总体税负较高;④总体税负与所得税负担、流转税负担、资产规模、盈利能力、资本密集度和年度变量显著正相关,却与负债水平和投资收益显著负相关。本文的政策含义在于:①若要保持税收的可持续增长,应该紧紧抓住典型重点企业,比如资产规模大、盈利能力强的企业,这些企业是重点税源;②由于总体税负与资本密集度显著正相关,税收受到投资的强劲拉动,因此,它会显著地受到国家宏观调控之影响;③在企业方面,可以适度负债,合理地利用负债的税收档板作用;④企业可以适度地进行多元化长期投资、分散风险。     

总部经济下地方税收竞争的博弈分析

本文利用完全信息静态博弈模型,分析在法人所得税制下,地方在总部经济发展过程中的税收竞争问题,并提出相关的政策建议。     

A choice‐theoretic analysis of a corporate tax holiday versus a subsidy

This paper attempts to compare the effect of a corporate tax holiday with that of a subsidy on the behaviour of the individual firm. Assuming the subsidy equals the amount of tax paid by a firm operating under the subsidy system, we find that the firm's net profit will be greater under the tax holiday than under the subsidy regime. Similarly, if the subsidy exceeds the tax by an amount that would equalize the profits made by the (“marginal”) firm under the two regimes, then it is found that firms with higher than “average” unit costs would opt for the subsidy system; conversely, firms with a low cost structure would maximize profits by selecting the tax holiday. Finally, a multiperiod analysis of the particular choice facing prospective manufacturers in Ciskei, shows that the firm would normally choose the subsidy system except if the current tax exceeded the subsidy at the output level representing maximum profit under the tax holiday.     

在深化结构性减税中推动税制改革

近年来,党中央、国务院决定推行结构性减税的税收政策,从个人所得税的起征点提高,到营业税改增值税试点改革等税收政策,我国在减税政策上采取了实际行动。减税在理论上能刺激投资和消费,促进经济的增长,因而,减税逐渐成为了世界各国刺激经济的措施。实际上,我国实施结构性减税不仅是应对金融危机的临时之举,从长远来看,如何深化结构性减税成为我国当今税收改革的方向,也是增强群众幸福感的一个重要举措。     

经济政策不确定性与企业投资趋同行为

文章以2003-2017年A股非金融类上市公司为研究样本,考察经济政策不确定性对企业投资趋同行为的影响。研究发现,经济政策不确定性的升高会显著增强企业投资趋同行为,该影响效应在信息优势企业有所减弱,在资产不可逆程度较高企业有所增强。分行业检验发现,在管制性行业以及景气度较低行业中,经济政策不确定性对企业投资趋同行为的影响减弱。进一步研究发现,在经济政策不确定性不断攀升的背景下,实体投资趋同性会带来更为严重的金融化,特别是在行业实体投资总体趋于放缓的情况下,企业金融化现象更加严重。该研究为宏观经济波动下企业投资趋同行为提供了经验证据。     

Effects of deductions on the tax burden reduction and the redistribution of the income and resident taxes

The status of the deductions in Japan’s income and resident tax systems is an important policy issue. To analyze this issue, it is essential to have an evidence-based understanding of the situation regarding the effect of deductions on the tax burden reduction and income redistribution. To this end, we use household microdata from the National Survey of Family Income and Expenditure during 1994–2014 to conduct a quantitative evaluation of the burden reduction and redistribution effects of deductions over a 20-year period. Initially, the higher the income group, the higher the burden reduction effect of the deductions (ratio of deductions to gross income). However, the advantageous treatment of the higher income group has been decreasing annually and, recently, the burden reduction effect has reached a proportional structure. Although the system changes in deductions have decreased the tax burden effect due to deductions, these changes have contributed to weakening the effect of increasing the Gini coefficient.