[go: up one dir, main page]

IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/2272.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Tax Incentives and Business Investment: New Evidence from Mexico

Author

Listed:
  • Ramirez Verdugo, Arturo
Abstract
This paper provides new evidence on the response of business investment to tax incentives. I use the variation provided by recent reforms to the Mexican corporate tax system, including the elimination and reintroduction of accelerated depreciation allowances applicable to investment undertaken outside the three main Mexican metropolitan areas. I show that investment is very sensitive to changes in tax variables and interest rates, with an estimated elasticity of investment with respect to the user cost around -2.0. The results are robust to different specifications and instrumental variables approaches. The large elasticity is shown to be the result of the large cross sectional variation in the user cost of capital and also a product of the small open economy nature of the Mexican economy. In particular, large investment responses of plants owned by multinational firms and a elasticity of imported assets considerably larger than that of domestically purchased goods. Furthermore, the use of panel data at the establishment level allows me to identify the discrete nature of investment decisions and to show that the capital accumulation pattern is consistent with nonconvex adjustment costs and irreversibilities, similar to those found for the US. Thus, the large elasticity compared to US estimates cannot be attributed to differences in adjustment costs. Finally, I provide evidence that the large investment response is not an artifact of misreporting or tax evasion since the elasticity of investment in other assets such as transportation equipment and land, which is harder to misreport, is also high.

Suggested Citation

  • Ramirez Verdugo, Arturo, 2005. "Tax Incentives and Business Investment: New Evidence from Mexico," MPRA Paper 2272, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 04 Oct 2006.
  • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:2272
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/2272/1/MPRA_paper_2272.pdf
    File Function: original version
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/2291/1/MPRA_paper_2291.pdf
    File Function: revised version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hassett, Kevin A. & Hubbard, R. Glenn, 2002. "Tax policy and business investment," Handbook of Public Economics, in: A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), Handbook of Public Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 20, pages 1293-1343, Elsevier.
    2. Gordon, Roger H. & Hines, James Jr, 2002. "International taxation," Handbook of Public Economics, in: A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), Handbook of Public Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 28, pages 1935-1995, Elsevier.
    3. Feltenstein, Andrew & Shah, Anwar, 1995. "General equilibrium effects of investment incentives in Mexico," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 253-269, April.
    4. Hausman, Jerry, 2015. "Specification tests in econometrics," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 38(2), pages 112-134.
    5. Griliches, Zvi & Hausman, Jerry A., 1986. "Errors in variables in panel data," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 93-118, February.
    6. Gaston Gelos, R. & Isgut, Alberto, 2001. "Irreversibilities in fixed capital adjustment: Evidence from Mexican and Colombian plants," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 74(1), pages 85-89, December.
    7. Brunner, Karl & Meltzer, Allan H., 1976. "The Phillips curve," Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 1-18, January.
    8. Cummins, Jason G. & Hassett, Kevin A. & Hubbard, R. Glenn, 1996. "Tax reforms and investment: A cross-country comparison," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(1-2), pages 237-273, October.
    9. Eric A. Verhoogen, 2008. "Trade, Quality Upgrading, and Wage Inequality in the Mexican Manufacturing Sector," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 123(2), pages 489-530.
    10. Avinash K. Dixit & Robert S. Pindyck, 1994. "Investment under Uncertainty," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 5474.
    11. José Ernesto López Córdova & Mauricio Mesquita Moreira, 2003. "Regional Integration and Productivity: The Experiences of Brazil and Mexico," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 23438, Inter-American Development Bank.
    12. Shah, Anwar & Slemrod, Joel, 1991. "Do Taxes Matter for Foreign Direct Investment?," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 5(3), pages 473-491, September.
    13. Goolsbee, Austan, 2000. "The Importance of Measurement Error in the Cost of Capital," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 53(2), pages 215-228, June.
    14. Jason G. Cummins & Kevin A. Hassett & R. Glenn Hubbard, 1994. "A Reconsideration of Investment Behavior Using Tax Reforms as Natural Experiments," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 25(2), pages 1-74.
    15. Mark E. Doms & Timothy Dunne, 1998. "Capital Adjustment Patterns in Manufacturing Plants," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 1(2), pages 409-429, April.
    16. Ricardo J. Caballero & Eduardo M. R. A. Engel & John C. Haltiwanger, 1995. "Plant-Level Adjustment and Aggregate Investment Dynamics," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 26(2), pages 1-54.
    17. Goolsbee, Austan, 2000. "The Importance of Measurement Error in the Cost of Capital," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 53(n. 2), pages 215-28, June.
    18. James M. Poterba & Lawrence H. Summers, 1984. "The Economic Effects of Dividend Taxation," NBER Working Papers 1353, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Austan Goolsbee, 1998. "Investment Tax Incentives, Prices, and the Supply of Capital Goods," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 113(1), pages 121-148.
    20. López Córdova, José Ernesto & Mesquita Moreira, Mauricio, 2003. "Regional Integration and Productivity: The Experiences of Brazil and Mexico," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 2790, Inter-American Development Bank.
    21. Christopher L. House & Matthew D. Shapiro, 2008. "Temporary Investment Tax Incentives: Theory with Evidence from Bonus Depreciation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(3), pages 737-768, June.
    22. Chirinko, Robert S. & Fazzari, Steven M. & Meyer, Andrew P., 1999. "How responsive is business capital formation to its user cost?: An exploration with micro data," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(1), pages 53-80, October.
    23. Tobin, James, 1969. "A General Equilibrium Approach to Monetary Theory," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 1(1), pages 15-29, February.
    24. Gelos, R. Gaston & Werner, Alejandro M., 2002. "Financial liberalization, credit constraints, and collateral: investment in the Mexican manufacturing sector," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 1-27, February.
    25. repec:idb:brikps:22958 is not listed on IDEAS
    26. R. Gaston Gelos & Alberto Isgut, 2001. "Fixed Capital Adjustment: Is Latin America Different?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 83(4), pages 717-726, November.
    27. Gordon, Roger H. & Ley, Eduardo, 1994. "Implications of Existing Tax Policy for Cross-Border Activity Between the United States and Mexico After NAFTA," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 47(2), pages 435-446, June.
    28. Gordon, Roger H. & Ley, Eduardo, 1994. "Implications of Existing Tax Policy for Cross-Border Activity Between the United States and Mexico after NAFTA," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 47(2), pages 435-46, June.
    29. Lucas, Robert Jr, 1976. "Econometric policy evaluation: A critique," Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 19-46, January.
    30. Lawrence H. Summers, 1981. "Taxation and Corporate Investment: A q-Theory Approach," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 12(1), pages 67-140.
    31. Austan Goolsbee, 2000. "The Importance of Measurement Error in the Cost of Capital," NBER Working Papers 7558, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Bayer, Christian & Mecikovsky, Ariel & Meier, Matthias, 2018. "Misallocation: Markups and Technology," CEPR Discussion Papers 12727, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Eric Zwick & James Mahon, 2017. "Tax Policy and Heterogeneous Investment Behavior," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(1), pages 217-248, January.
    2. Walch, Florian & Dwenger, Nadja, 2011. "Tax Losses and Firm Investment: Evidence from Tax Statistics," VfS Annual Conference 2011 (Frankfurt, Main): The Order of the World Economy - Lessons from the Crisis 48699, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    3. Nadja Dwenger, 2014. "User Cost Elasticity of Capital Revisited," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 81(321), pages 161-186, January.
    4. Schaller, Huntley & Voia, Marcel, 2017. "Panel cointegration estimates of the user cost elasticity," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 235-250.
    5. Goolsbee, Austan, 2004. "Taxes and the quality of capital," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(3-4), pages 519-543, March.
    6. Fatica, Serena, 2018. "Business capital accumulation and the user cost: Is there a heterogeneity bias?," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 15-34.
    7. Guceri, Irem & Albinowski, Maciej, 2021. "Investment responses to tax policy under uncertainty," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(3), pages 1147-1170.
    8. Chirinko, Robert S. & Fazzari, Steven M. & Meyer, Andrew P., 1999. "How responsive is business capital formation to its user cost?: An exploration with micro data," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(1), pages 53-80, October.
    9. Lei Zhang & Yuyu Chen & Zongyan He, 2018. "The effect of investment tax incentives: evidence from China’s value-added tax reform," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 25(4), pages 913-945, August.
    10. Eichfelder, Sebastian & Schneider, Kerstin, 2018. "How do tax incentives affect business investment? Evidence from German bonus depreciation," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 231, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
    11. Hanlon, Michelle & Heitzman, Shane, 2010. "A review of tax research," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 127-178, December.
    12. Cummins, Jason G. & Hassett, Kevin A. & Hubbard, R. Glenn, 1996. "Tax reforms and investment: A cross-country comparison," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(1-2), pages 237-273, October.
    13. Lewe, Stefan, 2003. "Wachstumseffiziente Unternehmensbesteuerung," Publications of Darmstadt Technical University, Institute for Business Studies (BWL) 20042, Darmstadt Technical University, Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law, Institute for Business Studies (BWL).
    14. Robert S. Chirinko & Steven M. Fazzari & Andrew P. Meyer, 2004. "That Elusive Elasticity: A Long-Panel Approach to Estimating the Capital-Labor Substitution Elasticity," CESifo Working Paper Series 1240, CESifo.
    15. Paul Gaggl & Greg C. Wright, 2017. "A Short-Run View of What Computers Do: Evidence from a UK Tax Incentive," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 9(3), pages 262-294, July.
    16. Robert S. Chirinko & Steven M. Fazzari & Andrew P. Meyer, 2002. "That Elusive Elasticity: A Long-Panel Approach To Estimating The Price Sensitivity Of Business Capital," 10th International Conference on Panel Data, Berlin, July 5-6, 2002 B3-1, International Conferences on Panel Data.
    17. repec:esx:essedp:752 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Caballero, Ricardo J., 1999. "Aggregate investment," Handbook of Macroeconomics, in: J. B. Taylor & M. Woodford (ed.), Handbook of Macroeconomics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 12, pages 813-862, Elsevier.
    19. Robert S. Chirinko & Steven M. Fazzari & Andrew P. Meyer, 1996. "What Do Micro Data Reveal About the User Cost Elasticity?: New Evidence on the Responsiveness of Business Capital Formation," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_175, Levy Economics Institute.
    20. Schaller, Huntley, 2006. "Estimating the long-run user cost elasticity," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(4), pages 725-736, May.
    21. House, Christopher L., 2014. "Fixed costs and long-lived investments," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 86-100.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Investment; taxes; user cost; manufacturing plants; Mexico;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E22 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Investment; Capital; Intangible Capital; Capacity
    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:2272. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Joachim Winter (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vfmunde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.