At a cost: The real effects of thin capitalization rules

C-Tier
Journal: Economics Letters
Year: 2021
Volume: 200
Issue: C

Authors (2)

de Mooij, Ruud (not in RePEc) Liu, Li (International Monetary Fund (I...)

Score contribution per author:

0.503 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 0.5x C-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Thin capitalization rules (TCRs) aim to mitigate profit shifting by multinational corporations (MNCs) but, by raising the cost of capital for affected affiliates, can also negatively affect real investment. Exploiting unique panel data on multinational companies in 34 countries during 2006–2014, we estimate that the size of this adverse investment effect can be large, and dependent on the statutory corporate tax rate and the tightness of the safe-haven ratio. Negative investment effects are more pronounced for highly-levered firms for which TCRs are more likely to be binding.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:ecolet:v:200:y:2021:i:c:s0165176521000227
Journal Field
General
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-25