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To Cut or Not to Cut? On the Impact of Corporate Taxes on Employment and Income

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Abstract
Do corporate tax increases destroy jobs? And do corporate tax cuts boost employment? Answering these questions has proved empirically challenging. We propose an identification strategy that exploits variation in corporate income tax rates across U.S. states. Comparing contiguous counties straddling state borders over the period 1970 to 2010, we find that increases in corporate tax rates lead to significant reductions in employment and income. We find little evidence that corporate tax cuts boost economic activity, unless implemented during recessions when they lead to significant increases in employment and income. Our spatial-discontinuity approach permits a causal interpretation of these findings by both establishing a plausible counterfactual and overcoming biases resulting from the fact that tax changes are often prompted by changes in economic conditions.

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  • Alexander Ljungqvist & Michael Smolyansky, 2016. "To Cut or Not to Cut? On the Impact of Corporate Taxes on Employment and Income," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2016-6, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedgfe:2016-06
    DOI: 10.17016/FEDS.2016.006
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Fiscal policy; Corporate taxation; Economic stimulus; Economic growth; Employment; Regional economies;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies

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