Should continued family firms face lower taxes than other estates?

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Grossmann, Volker; Strulik, Holger
• 署名单位: University of Fribourg; Leibniz Association; Ifo Institut; IZA Institute Labor Economics
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0047-2727
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2009.10.005
• 发表日期: 2010
• 页码: 87-101
• 关键词: Bequest taxation; creative destruction; entrepreneurship; Family firms; Preferential tax treatment

摘要

Taxes on estates and inheritances may Induce heirs to discontinue family firms Because firm dissolution transaction costs, a preferential tax treatment of transferred family businesses seems to be desirable from a macroeconomic viewpoint The support of dynastic succession. however. entails also a cost oil the economy if firm continuation by less able heirs prevents entry into entrepreneurship Here, we investigate analytically and quantitatively the trade-off between transaction costs saved and creative destruction prevented We find that a unique general equilibrium exists at which, depending oil the institutional setup, low-ability heirs either abandon (Type 1) or continue (Type 2) a family business A calibration of the model with German data Suggests that preferential tax treatment of family firms has severe negative consequences oil macroeconomic performance if It Causes a threshold crossing from Type I to Type 2 equilibrium It also reveals that the descendants of less able entrepreneurs who were caused by continuation-friendly tax policy to keep a family business always lose relative to their status in an economy without Such a policy (C) 2009 Elsevier B V All rights reserved