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The Impact of Tax Incentives on the Economic Activity of Entrepreneurs

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  • Jarkko Harju
  • Tuomas Kosonen
Abstract
This paper studies the effect of Finnish tax reforms in the mid 1990s on the economic activity and tax avoidance decisions of the owners of small businesses. The reforms reduced income tax rates and increased tax planning incentives for small business owners. They applied only to unincorporated firms. We utilize both a theoretical model and empirical data. The empirical strategy is to use the reforms as a natural experiment to estimate the causal impact of the reforms. The results imply that entrepreneurs react to tax incentives along both real and avoidance margins, while the latter elasticity is larger.

Suggested Citation

  • Jarkko Harju & Tuomas Kosonen, 2013. "The Impact of Tax Incentives on the Economic Activity of Entrepreneurs," CESifo Working Paper Series 4259, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_4259
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Cited by:

    1. Jarkko Harju & Tuomas Kosonen, 2012. "The Impact of Tax Incentives on the Economic Activity of Entrepreneurs," Working Papers 1220, Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation.
    2. Henrekson, Magnus & Sanandaji, Tino, 2016. "Owner-Level Taxes and Business Activity," Foundations and Trends(R) in Entrepreneurship, now publishers, vol. 12(1), pages 1-94, March.
    3. Edmark, Karin & Gordon, Roger, 2012. "Taxes and the Choice of Organizational Form by Entrepreneurs in Sweden," Working Paper Series 907, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    4. Gonzales, Ivonne & Martner Fanta, Ricardo & Podestá, Andrea, 2013. "Políticas fiscales para el crecimiento y la igualdad," Macroeconomía del Desarrollo 5372, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    5. Jarkko Harju & Tuomas Matikka, 2016. "The elasticity of taxable income and income-shifting: what is “real” and what is not?," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 23(4), pages 640-669, August.
    6. Elert, Niklas & Henrekson, Magnus & Stenkula, Mikael, 2017. "Institutional Reform for Innovation and Entrepreneurship: An Agenda for Europe," Working Paper Series 1150, Research Institute of Industrial Economics, revised 16 Feb 2017.
    7. Sanz Labrador, Ismael & Sanz-Sanz, José Félix, 2013. "Política fiscal y crecimiento económico: consideraciones microeconómicas y relaciones macroeconómicas," Macroeconomía del Desarrollo 5367, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    8. Lahiri, Bidisha & Daramola, Richard, 2023. "Effects of credit and labor constraints on microenterprises and the unintended impact of changes in household endowments: Use of threshold estimation to detect heterogeneity," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 21-38.
    9. Sergey M. Drobyshevsky & Andrew V. Korytin & Natalya S. Kostrykina, 2023. "Effectiveness Assessment of Tax Benefits in Terms of Reduced Rates of Insurance Contributions for IT-companies in Russia," Journal of Tax Reform, Graduate School of Economics and Management, Ural Federal University, vol. 9(3), pages 376-397.
    10. Jarkko Harju & Tuomas Matikka, 2013. "The elasticity of taxable income and income-shifting between tax bases: what is “real” and what is not?," Working Papers 1313, Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation.
    11. Irfan Hameed & Umer Zaman & Idrees Waris & Owais Shafique, 2021. "A Serial-Mediation Model to Link Entrepreneurship Education and Green Entrepreneurial Behavior: Application of Resource-Based View and Flow Theory," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-19, January.
    12. Siegloch, Sebastian, 2014. "Employment Effects of Local Business Taxes," VfS Annual Conference 2014 (Hamburg): Evidence-based Economic Policy 100325, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    entrepreneurs; small businesses; tax incidence;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • H24 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies
    • H22 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Incidence

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