International taxation and productivity effects of M&As

Maximilian Todtenhaupt and Johannes Voget

Journal of International Economics, 2021, vol. 131, issue C

Abstract: We investigate how changes in firm productivity after M&As are affected by differences in profit taxation between the target and the acquirer. We argue that tax differentials distort the efficient allocation of productive factors following an M&A and thus inhibit the realization of productivity improvements. Using firm-level data on inputs and outputs of production as well as on corporate M&As, we show that the absolute tax differential between the locations of two merging firms reduces the subsequent total factor productivity gain. This effect is concentrated in horizontal M&As and less pronounced when firms can use international profit shifting to attenuate effective differences in taxation.

Keywords: M&A; Productivity; International taxation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F23 H25 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:inecon:v:131:y:2021:i:c:s0022199621000155

DOI: 10.1016/j.jinteco.2021.103438

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