nep-acc New Economics Papers
on Accounting and Auditing
Issue of 2013‒09‒13
seven papers chosen by
Alexander Harin
Modern University for the Humanities

  1. Tax Policy and Tax Reform in the People's Republic of China By Bert Brys; Stephen Matthews; Richard Herd; Xiao Wang
  2. Distortive Effects of Dividend Taxation By Lindhe, Tobias; Södersten, Jan
  3. Patents in the University: Priming the Pump and Crowding Out By Scotchmer, Suzanne
  4. The Determinants of R&D Investment: An Empirical Survey By Bettina Becker
  5. Assessing future sustainability of french public finances By Jérôme Creel; Paul Hubert; Francesco Saraceno,
  6. The contribution of intangible assets to sectoral productivity growth in the EU By Niebel, Thomas; O'Mahony, Mary; Saam, Marianne
  7. The Tax Policy Landscape Five Years after the Crisis By Pierre LeBlanc; Stephen Matthews; Kirsti Mellbye

  1. By: Bert Brys; Stephen Matthews; Richard Herd; Xiao Wang
    Abstract: This paper compares the tax system in China with the tax system in OECD countries and the tax reforms China and OECD countries have implemented in the past. The analysis focuses on those taxes and tax issues which are currently on China’s reform agenda, including the consumption taxes (especially the integration of the “business tax” into the VAT), environmentally-related taxes, the personal income tax, fiscal relations between the central and sub-central levels of government and property taxes. The paper provides a (preliminary) analysis of the tax-to-GDP ratio and the tax mix in China as well as the average and marginal tax wedge on labour income, by applying the OECD’s Revenue Statistics and Taxing Wages methodology. Although a country’s culture, traditions and legal system play an important part in shaping its tax regime and how it can be reformed, the paper also reviews the general design issues on how to make the tax system in China more growth-friendly, simple and transparent, less distortive and fairer. The paper contains a detailed discussion and evaluation of each tax and considers possible directions for future tax reform in China.<P>Politique et réformes fiscales en République Populaire de Chine<BR>Ce document compare le système fiscal en Chine avec celui des pays de l’OCDE en tenant compte des réformes que ces pays ont mis en oeuvre par le passé. L’analyse se concentre sur les impôts et les questions fiscales pour lesquels la Chine envisage une réforme, y compris les impôts sur la consommation (notamment l’intégration de « la taxe d’affaires » dans la TVA), les taxes liées à l’environnement, l’impôt sur le revenu des personnes physiques, les relations budgétaires entre l’administration centrale et les administrations infranationales, ainsi que les impôts fonciers. Ce document présente une analyse (préliminaire) du ratio impôts/PIB et de la structure fiscale en Chine, ainsi que du coin fiscal moyen et marginal sur les revenus du travail, en appliquant la méthodologie utilisée dans les publications de l’OCDE Statistiques des recettes publiques et Les impôts sur les salaires. Bien que la culture, les traditions et le système juridique d’un pays jouent un rôle important pour façonner son régime fiscal et influent sur les possibilités de réforme, ce document aborde également des questions générales de conception en vue de déterminer comment faire en sorte que le système fiscal en Chine soit plus favorable à la croissance, simple, transparent et équitable, et induise moins de distorsions. Ce document examine et évalue chaque impôt en détail et réfléchit aux orientations possibles de la future réforme fiscale en Chine.
    Keywords: tax reform, tax policy, China, réforme fiscale, politique fiscale, Chine
    JEL: H2 H7
    Date: 2013–09–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ctpaaa:18-en&r=acc
  2. By: Lindhe, Tobias (Uppsala Center for Fiscal Studies); Södersten, Jan (Uppsala Center for Fiscal Studies)
    Abstract: This paper examines how the distortions caused by dividend taxation depend on whether or not shareholders can recover their original equity injections without being subject to the dividend tax. We point out the alternative assumptions in the literature on this, and we compare two different tax regimes, one where it is impossible for the firm to pay cash to its shareholders that is not taxed as dividends, the other where the shareholders are allowed a tax-free return of the original capital contributed through new issues. Our analysis shows that the regimes imply a substantial difference to our perceptions of the distortive effects of dividend taxation.
    Keywords: dividend taxation; share repurchases; equity trap; cost of capital; nucleus theory; growth path
    JEL: H24 H25 H32
    Date: 2013–09–02
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:uufswp:2013_009&r=acc
  3. By: Scotchmer, Suzanne
    Abstract: The Bayh-Dole Act allows universities to exploit patents on their federally sponsored re- search. University laboratories therefore have two sources of funds: direct grants from sponsors and income from licensing. Tax credits for private R&D also contribute, because they increase the profitability of licensing. Because Bayh-Dole profits are a source of funds, the question arises how subsidies and Bayh-Dole profits fit together. I show that subsidies to the university can either "prime the pump" for spending out of Bayh-Dole funds, or can crowd it out. Because of crowding out, if the sponsor wants to increase university spending beyond the university's own target, it will end up funding the entire research bill, just as if there were no profit opportunities under the Bayh-Dole Act. A subsidy system that requires university matching can mitigate this problem.
    Keywords: research subsidy, tax credits, Bayh-Dole Act, matching grants, crowding out
    Date: 2013–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tse:wpaper:27419&r=acc
  4. By: Bettina Becker (School of Business and Economics, Loughborough University, UK)
    Abstract: This paper offers an extensive survey and a critical discussion of the empirical literature on the driving factors of R&D. These factors are subsumed under five broad types. The paper first summarises the key predictions from theory regarding each type's R&D effect. It then examines for which factors differences in the theoretical predictions can also be found in empirical studies, and for which factors the empirical evidence is more unanimous. As the focus is on the empirical literature, methodological issues are also highlighted. The major factor types identified in the literature are, individual firm or industry characteristics, particularly internal finance and sales; competition in product markets; R&D tax credits and subsidies; location and resource related factors, such as spillovers from university research within close geographic proximity, membership of a research joint venture and cooperation with research centres, and the human capital embodied in knowledge workers; and spillovers from foreign R&D. Although on balance there is a consensus regarding the R&D effects of most factors, there is also variation in results. Recent work suggests that accounting for nonlinearities is one area of research that may explain and encompass contradictory findings.
    Keywords: R&D; R&D policy; innovation policy; financial constraints; competition; public funding; knowledge spillovers.
    JEL: G20 G28 M15
    Date: 2013–08
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lbo:lbowps:2013_09&r=acc
  5. By: Jérôme Creel (Ofce sciences-po,Escp Europe); Paul Hubert (Ofce sciences-po); Francesco Saraceno, (Ofce sciences-po,Luiss school of european political economy Italy)
    Abstract: This paper contributes to the debate on the French public finances'consolidation by investigating the long-term sustainability of France’s fiscal position. We trace the historical trends of government’s tax receipts and expenditures. We find that while the level of public expenditure in France is larger than in the rest of the Euro Area (mostly because of public wages and social benefits), its trend is comparable to its neighbours. Net lending is also under control, thanks to the high levels of taxation, so that we see no real risk of future unsustainability. However, the French tax system is unfair, is not sufficiently progressive, and is too complex. The paper then proceeds to assess the future of France’s public finances on the basis of the current debate on the Euro Area fiscal rules. We report two analyses theoretical and empirical that project the inflation rate and output gap paths for the next twenty years. We finally assess fiscal rules on this ground. The ‘fiscal compact’ fares rather poorly compared to the alternative rules that we assess.
    Keywords: deficits,debts,debt management,fiscal rules,fiscale compact,golden rule
    JEL: E62 E63 H61 H68
    Date: 2013–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fce:doctra:1311&r=acc
  6. By: Niebel, Thomas; O'Mahony, Mary; Saam, Marianne
    Abstract: In this paper we report on new data on intangible investment at the level of 1-digit NACE industries of 10 EU countries. The data are constructed as a sectoral breakdown of the INTANInvest database, which contains measures of intangible investment at the level of the aggregate business sector. With the sectoral data we assess the contribution of intangibles to productivity growth based on growth accounting and econometric estimation of production functions. The growth accounting contribution of intangibles to labor productivity growth is generally highest in manufacturing and finance. The estimated output elasticity of intangibles lies between 0.1 and 0.2, considerably below values found in previous research using aggregate data. --
    Keywords: Intangible Assets,Labor Productivity,Growth Accounting,Panel Regressions
    JEL: E22 J24 O47
    Date: 2013
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:13062&r=acc
  7. By: Pierre LeBlanc; Stephen Matthews; Kirsti Mellbye
    Abstract: The height of the economic and financial crisis is now well past, but its aftermath remains wide-ranging, with many OECD countries still some way from restoring strong and sustainable economic growth. Even before the Great Recession OECD economies faced a range of challenges, most notably from globalisation, but also other challenges such as climates change, growing inequality and population ageing. Against this background, this paper discusses how tax policies have responded to fiscal and macroeconomic developments over the past five years and these longer-term structural economic developments.<P>Le paysage des politiques fiscales, cinq ans après la crise<BR>Le paroxysme de la crise économique et financière est loin derrière nous, mais les séquelles restent multiples, et de nombreux pays de l’OCDE ont encore du chemin à parcourir avant de retrouver une croissance économique forte et durable. Avant même la Grande récession, les économies de l’OCDE se heurtaient déjà à un éventail de problématiques telles que, notamment, les incidences de la mondialisation, mais aussi à des défis comme le changement climatique, le creusement des inégalités et le vieillissement de la population. Dans ce contexte, ce rapport explique comment les politiques fiscales se sont adaptées face aux évolutions budgétaires et macroéconomiques de ces cinq dernières années et face à ces bouleversements économiques structurels de plus long terme.
    Date: 2013–09–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ctpaaa:17-en&r=acc

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