Watch What I Do, Not What I Say: The Unintended Consequences of the Homeland Investment Act
研究发现《本土投资法》的税收优惠并未促进美国跨国公司增加国内投资、就业或研发，反而导致大部分资金以股东分红形式流出，表明这些公司并不存在融资约束。
ABSTRACT The Homeland Investment Act provided a tax holiday for the repatriation of foreign earnings. Advocates argued the Act would alleviate financial constraints by reducing the cost to U.S. multinationals of accessing internal capital. This paper shows that repatriations did not increase domestic investment, employment, or R&D—even for firms that appeared to be financially constrained or lobbied for the holiday. Instead, a $1 increase in repatriations was associated with a $0.60 to $0.92 increase in shareholder payouts. Regulations intended to restrict such payouts were undermined by the fungibility of money. Results indicate that U.S. multinationals were not financially constrained and were well‐governed.