02071nam a2200289 4500 1/51345 051115s2006 be u pdd 1 a0eng d 1016-8060 (print) 1725-3187 (online) KC-AI-06-263-EN-C 34539 GR-PeUP ΚΕΤ Αλφαβητική σειρά Huizinga, Harry. Capital structure and international debt shifting / Harry Huizinga, Luc Laeven, Gaetan Nicodeme. Brussels- Belgium: European Comission: Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs, 2006. 42 σ.: πιν. 30 εκ. European Economy. Economic papers ; Economic Papers This paper presents a model of a multinational firm's optimal debt policy that incorporates international taxation factors. The model yields the prediction that a multinational firm's indebtedness in a country depends on a weighted average of national tax rates and differences between national and foreign tax rates. These differences matter as multinationals have an incentive to shift debt to high-tax countries. The predictions of the model are tested using a novel firm-level dataset for European multinationals and their subsidiaries, combined with newly collected data on the international tax treatment of dividend and interest streams. The empirical results show that corporate debt policy indeed not only reflects domestic corporate tax rates but also differences in international tax systems. These findings contribute to understanding how corporate debt policy is set in an international context. Laeven, Luc. Nicodeme, Gaetan. European Commission : Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs. Economic Papers December 2006, No 263. European Economy. Economic papers ; 263. INST UNIPILB KET 20090310 EEEP 263 EEEP 263 NOLOAN 23 1 http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/publications/publication_summary560_en.htm