Profit Taxation, R&D Spending, and Innovation
利用德国两万多个地方税率变化数据，研究发现利润税显著抑制了企业的研发支出和专利申请，且影响因企业特征和研究类型而异。
We study how profit taxes affect establishments’ R&D activities. Relying on detailed panel data of R&D-active firms in Germany over two decades, we exploit identifying variation induced by more than 10,000 municipal changes in the local business tax rate and federal tax reforms with locally varying effects. Using event-study techniques, we find a sizable, negative effect of profit taxes on establishments’ total R&D spending and patents filed. Zooming into the innovation production process, we uncover substantial heterogeneity in the impact of profit taxation for various R&D input factors, among firm characteristics, and for different types of research projects.