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Taxation and Supplier Networks: Evidence from India

Author

Listed:
  • Lucie Gadenne

    (QMUL)

  • Tushar K. Nandi

    (Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER)
    CREST and CEPR)

Abstract
Do tax systems distort firm-to-firm trade? This paper considers the effect of tax policy on supply chains in a large developing economy, the state of West Bengal in India. Using administrative panel data on firms, including transaction data for 4.8 million supplier clientpairs, we first document substantial segmentation of supply chains between firms paying Value-Added Taxes (VAT) and non-VAT-paying firms. We then develop a model of firms’ sourcing and tax decisions within supply chains to understand the mechanisms through which tax policy interacts with supply networks. The model predicts partial segmentation in equilibrium because of both supply-chain distortions (taxes affect how much firms trade with each other) and strategic complementarities in firms’ decision to pay VAT. Finally, we test the model’s predictions using variations over time within firm and within supplier-client pairs. We find that the tax system distorts firms’ sourcing decisions, and evidence of strategic complementarities in firms’ tax choices within supplier networks. A hypothetical reform exempting all firm-to-firm transactions from the VAT would lead to growth of small- and medium-sized firms at the cost of a smalldecrease in tax revenues.

Suggested Citation

  • Lucie Gadenne & Tushar K. Nandi, 2023. "Taxation and Supplier Networks: Evidence from India," Working Papers 947, Queen Mary University of London, School of Economics and Finance.
    • Handle: RePEc:qmw:qmwecw:947
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    3. David Atkin & Amit K. Khandelwal, 2020. "How Distortions Alter the Impacts of International Trade in Developing Countries," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 12(1), pages 213-238, August.
    4. Goodhart, Charles, 2022. "Ben S. Bernanke: 21st century monetary policy: the federal reserve from the great inflation to COVID-19. W.W. Norton & Company, 2022," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 115779, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. KAWAKUBO Takafumi & SUZUKI Takafumi, 2022. "Theory and Evidence of Firm-to-firm Transaction Network Dynamics," Discussion papers 22073, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    6. Waseem, Mazhar, 2023. "Overclaimed refunds, undeclared sales, and invoice mills: Nature and extent of noncompliance in a value-added tax," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    7. K. V. Ramaswamy, 2021. "Do Size-dependent Tax Incentives Discourage Plant Size Expansion? Evidence from Panel Data in Indian Manufacturing," Margin: The Journal of Applied Economic Research, National Council of Applied Economic Research, vol. 15(4), pages 395-417, November.
    8. Giulia Mascagni & Roel Dom & Fabrizio Santoro & Denis Mukama, 2023. "The VAT in practice: equity, enforcement, and complexity," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 30(2), pages 525-563, April.
    9. Athiphat Muthitacharoen & Wonma Wanichthaworn & Trongwut Burong, 2021. "VAT threshold and small business behavior: evidence from Thai tax returns," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 28(5), pages 1242-1275, October.
    10. Peter Morrow & Michael Smart & Artur Swistak, 2019. "VAT Compliance, Trade, and Institutions," CESifo Working Paper Series 7780, CESifo.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • O23 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy - - - Fiscal and Monetary Policy in Development
    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • L14 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Transactional Relationships; Contracts and Reputation

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