期刊-NBER美国国民经济研究局-Summer1979_36页_773kb

NBER Reporter Summary: Business Taxation and Finance

Core Content

The NBER Reporter from Summer 1979 highlights the research conducted within the Program in Business Taxation and Finance. This program focuses on the interaction between tax policy and financial decisions, emphasizing how tax consequences are deeply influenced by financial structures. The research spans a wide range of topics, including the impact of inflation, the allocation of investment resources, and the effects of tax reforms on capital formation and corporate financial policy.

Main Research Areas and Key Findings

1. Taxation and Inflation

• Impact on Tax Burdens: Inflation affects both corporate and individual tax burdens. Historical cost accounting methods can lead to higher effective tax rates on corporate capital during high inflation.
• Capital Gains and Depreciation: Inflation distorts the measurement of capital gains and depreciation. For instance, capital gains are overstated due to the difference between current sale prices and past purchase prices.
• Real vs. Nominal Returns: Feldstein and Summers found that the failure to index real returns leads to a one-for-one adjustment in interest rates with the rate of anticipated inflation.
• Empirical Evidence: In 1973, capital gains taxes were $4.6 billion, but with inflation adjustments, there would have been a capital loss of nearly $1 billion.

2. Analysis of Major Tax Alternatives

• Integration of Corporate and Individual Taxes: This has been a major topic of study, with research indicating that such integration could reduce the effective tax rate on corporate capital.
• Expenditure-Based Taxation: There is growing interest in shifting from income-based to expenditure-based taxation. Summers suggests that this could lead to significant efficiency gains.
• Value-Added Tax (VAT): As a form of expenditure-based tax, VAT has been examined in the context of household savings and capital formation.
• Tax Base Shifts: Exempting investment yields from income tax may be less conducive to capital formation than extending tax treatment to all investments, depending on fiscal policy constraints.

3. Real Allocation Effects of Taxes

• Capital Stock and Tax Policy: Tax policies influence the level and distribution of the U.S. capital stock, including housing, consumer durables, and nonresidential structures.
• Retained Earnings and Share Valuation: Taxation of corporate distributions affects the valuation of retained earnings. The market price of retained earnings is estimated using the capital asset pricing model.
• Demographic and Tax Effects: Boskin and Lau study how demographic changes and tax policies interact to affect aggregate wealth accumulation.
• Dividend Policy and Market Signals: Dividends may serve as signals of corporate financial health, even in the presence of high tax rates on dividends.

4. The Effect of Tax Rules on Corporate Finance

• Debt-Equity Balance: Tax rules influence the optimal debt-equity ratio. Retained earnings are not fully reflected in share values, which may reduce the perceived bias against dividends.
• Corporate Financial Decisions: Researchers like Auerbach and Bradford examine how tax policies affect corporate investment and distribution decisions.
• Bankruptcy and Taxation: Shoven has explored the circumstances under which a corporation may face bankruptcy, emphasizing the role of tax policy in shaping the debt-equity balance.
• Information Asymmetry: Myers investigates how firms’ information about their prospects affects their financial decisions and the debt-equity ratio.

5. Taxes in an International Economy

• Capital Mobility and Tax Policy: Feldstein and Horioka compare national saving and investment rates to assess capital mobility, suggesting that closed economy models can still be useful.
• International Taxation: Hartman explores how countries should tax foreign-source income to benefit their citizens, highlighting the game-theoretic challenges involved.
• Multinational Corporations: Tax rules significantly affect the investment decisions of multinational firms.
• Comparative Tax Studies: The Bureau plans to compare tax systems across countries, using the U.S. system as a reference. King is already working on similar studies in the UK, with plans to collaborate with Swedish and German economists.

Key Researchers and Contributions

• David F. Bradford: Analyzed the impact of tax rules on investment decisions and the incidence of corporate distributions.
• Martin Feldstein: Explored the relationship between inflation and tax rates, and the implications of tax integration.
• Lawrence H. Summers: Investigated the efficiency gains from shifting to expenditure-based taxation and the effects of tax policy on capital formation.
• John Shoven: Focused on general equilibrium models and the long-term effects of tax choices on the labor-capital ratio.
• Alan Auerbach: Examined the influence of tax policy on asset life choices and the behavior of corporate financial structures.
• Wilbur G. Lewellen: Studied the role of institutional investors in the securities market and their impact on market efficiency and liquidity.

Conclusion

The NBER's research in business taxation and finance underscores the complex relationship between tax policy and economic behavior. The findings suggest that tax rules significantly affect capital formation, investment decisions, and the allocation of resources between corporate and noncorporate sectors. Additionally, the study of international taxation and the potential for reforming the tax system to be more efficient and equitable remains a key area of focus.