How Much Do Taxes Discourage Incorporation?
利用美国1959-1986年数据，研究公司税双重征税如何影响企业选择公司化，发现税收扭曲导致企业资产和应税收入在公司和非法人部门间重新配置，超额负担达商业税收收入的16%。
The double taxation of corporate income should discourage firms from incorporating. We investigate the extent to which the aggregate allocation of assets and taxable income in the United States between corporate and noncorporate firms responds to the size of this tax distortion during the period 1959–1986. In theory, profitable firms should shift out of the corporate sector when the tax distortion is large, and conversely for firms with tax losses. Our empirical results provide strong support for these forecasts, and imply that the resulting excess burden equals 16 percent of business tax revenue.