The Value-Added Tax Reform Puzzle
This explores the impact of a tax reform in some provinces of China which eliminated the value-added tax on some investment goods. While the goal of the experiment was to encourage upgrading of technology, the results suggest that there was no evident increase overall in fixed investment, and employment fell significantly in the treated provinces and sectors. The reform reduced the total number of employees for all types of firms. For domestic firms, it reduced employment by almost 8 percent. The results are robust to a variety of approaches, and suggest that the primary impact of the policy has been to induce labor-saving growth. This experiment has since been extended to the rest of China.
Summary: | This explores the impact of a tax reform
in some provinces of China which eliminated the value-added
tax on some investment goods. While the goal of the
experiment was to encourage upgrading of technology, the
results suggest that there was no evident increase overall
in fixed investment, and employment fell significantly in
the treated provinces and sectors. The reform reduced the
total number of employees for all types of firms. For
domestic firms, it reduced employment by almost 8 percent.
The results are robust to a variety of approaches, and
suggest that the primary impact of the policy has been to
induce labor-saving growth. This experiment has since been
extended to the rest of China. |
---|