We use financial accounts data at sector level to construct financial networks for individual euro area countries. We then connect the country-level networks to one large “Macro Network”, using information on cross-border linkages between the national banking sectors. We then evaluate the...

This paper explores how corporate taxes affect the capital structure of multinational banks. Guided by a theory of optimal capital structure, it tests whether (i) corporate tax rates induce subsidiary banks to raise leverage in light of traditional debt bias; and (ii) cross-country corporate tax...

In the absence of financial frictions, the purpose of thin capitalization rules is to limit multinational firms’ possibilities of engaging in tax planning via debt shifting. This paper analyzes the effects of thin capitalization rules in the case where firms have limited access to external...

This article aims to analyze the link between subsidiary capital structure and taxation in Europe. First we introduce a trade-off model, which looks at a MNC’s financial strategy and in particular debt shifting from low-tax to high-tax jurisdictions. By letting the MNC choose both leverage and...

This paper develops a theoretical model of multinational firms with an internal capital market. Main reasons for the emergence of such a market are tax avoidance through debt shifting and the existence of institutional weaknesses and financial frictions across host countries. The model serves to...

There is a growing concern that governments lose substantial corporate tax revenue because of profit shifting through transfer-pricing and thin-capitalization strategies. Existing literature studies profit shifting and transfer pricing separately. In practice, the choice of debt-to-asset ratios...

This paper examines the impact of international debt shifting and exchange rate uncertainty on investment and capital structure decisions of foreign subsidiary. We find that debt shifting induces earlier investment, earlier default, higher leverage, and larger ex ante firm value of foreign...

Die Zinsschranke ist ein Instrument der Unternehmenssteuerreform 2008. Sie soll verhindern, dass international agierende Unternehmen ihre Gewinne über Fremdfinanzierung ins Ausland verlagern. Die Ergebnisse der vorliegenden Untersuchung sprechen dafür, dass multinationale Unternehmen...

Deutschland besitzt seit 1994 eine Regelung, die der Gewinnverlagerung multinationaler Konzerne mittels interner Fremdfinanzierung einen Riegel vorschieben soll. Trotz Nachbesserungen in den Jahren 2001 und 2004 war diese nach den bisherigen empirischen Untersuchungen wenig effektiv und...