The Effect of the Tax System as an Institutional Factor on the Business Structure in Europe

Bartha, Zoltan (2015): The Effect of the Tax System as an Institutional Factor on the Business Structure in Europe. Published in: (23 November 2015): pp. 98-110.

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the influence of tax systems and taxation rules on the firm structure of the 28 European Union member economies. It is argued that higher taxes and more complex tax rules lead to smaller firms, and that, on the other hand reduces macroeconomic perfor-mance. It is found that the firm size and corporate tax rates are negatively correlated in case of medium-sized (R=-0.4; p=0.03) and large (R=-0.41; p=0.03) firms. Indications were found that higher transaction costs caused by taxation lead to smaller firms, as a significant negative correlation was found between the number of hours per year needed to administer tax pay-ments, and the share of large firms (R=-0.41 & p=0.03), and also between KPMG’s comment length (an indicator for tax system complexity) and the share of medium-sized firms’ turnover from the total turnover (R=-0.39 & p=0.045). More complicated tax rules might also cause a smaller proportion of firms to grow quicker, but the significance level of these relationships is not very convincing.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: tax system; tax rate; institutions; firm size
• Subjects: H - Public Economics > H2 - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue > H21 - Efficiency ; Optimal Taxation; L - Industrial Organization > L1 - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance > L11 - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure ; Size Distribution of Firms

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