The Impact of Thin‐Capitalization Rules on External Debt Usage – A Propensity Score Matching Approach
研究了德国薄资本化规则改革后，跨国公司子公司如何通过增加外部债务来替代内部债务，从而规避利息税负，采用倾向得分匹配方法解决内生性问题。
Abstract Thin‐capitalization rules (TCRs) aim at limiting the tax advantage of internal debt financing by restricting the tax deductibility of the corresponding interest expenses. This article examines how subsidiaries of multinational firms respond to a change in the German thin‐capitalization legislation. The empirical analysis not only demonstrates that the TCR effectively restricts internal debt financing, it also suggests that firms are able to avoid taxation of interest by substituting external for internal debt. The empirical approach applies propensity score matching techniques and exploits the German tax reform 2001 to solve endogeneity problems.