@techreport{35097, author = {{Ebert, Michael and Schäfer, Ulrich and Schneider, Georg Thomas}}, issn = {{1556-5068}}, title = {{{Information Leaks and Voluntary Disclosure}}}, doi = {{10.2139/ssrn.4168084}}, year = {{2022}}, } @techreport{37070, author = {{Beyer, Bianca and Flagmeier, Vanessa and Kosi, Urska}}, title = {{{Does private firms’ disclosure affect public peers’ information environment?}}}, year = {{2022}}, } @techreport{37131, abstract = {{This paper introduces a novel database on the European corporate bond market to analyze the role of transparency regulation and recent developments in bond markets. We use data from the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) to build a comprehensive database covering daily corporate bond listing information in Europe starting in 2018. We then analyze the different market segments of the European bond market along four key areas: (i) time and cross-sectional trends in bond listings; (ii) composition of firms on the market; (iii) firms’ financial reporting transparency; (iv) bond contract terms. Furthermore, we discuss the impact of recent economic events on these key areas.}}, author = {{Franke, Benedikt and Kosi, Urska and Stoczek, Pia}}, keywords = {{Transparency regulation, Corporate bond, European market}}, title = {{{Current developments in the European corporate bond market}}}, year = {{2022}}, } @techreport{37088, abstract = {{We examine variation in mandatory CSR reporting practices based on a large sample of non-publicly listed savings banks in Germany. They do not have typical shareholders but rather are established by municipal trustees and can serve clients only in their distinct operating area. This setting permits us to identify demand for CSR information by their main stakeholder groups – municipal trustees and private and corporate clients. In this way, our analysis focuses on the double-materiality approach to CSR reporting. We find that demand for CSR information by supervisory board chairperson belonging to a left-wing or green party and the presence of more supervisory board members belonging to a left-wing or green party are associated with longer CSR reports and more disclosure on environmental, social, employee and human rights matters. In addition, competition for private clients and the sustainability orientation of corporate clients are associated with longer reports and more disclosure on environmental, employee and human rights matters. These findings suggest that savings banks’ CSR reports cater to their principal stakeholders’ demand for CSR information.}}, author = {{Gulenko, Maryna and Kohlhase, Saskia and Kosi, Urska}}, keywords = {{Corporate social responsibility, Mandatory reporting, Non-publicly listed banks, Double materiality, Stakeholder groups, Political influence}}, title = {{{CSR Reporting under the Non-Financial Reporting Directive: Evidence from Non-publicly Listed Firms}}}, year = {{2022}}, } @techreport{37089, abstract = {{This research note links the legal framework of the insolvency process of German firms to the information available in the newly-constructed insol database. In particular, the database contains information from documents published by German insolvency courts in period 2005- 2022. This research note first presents the insolvency process with steps and events of the process as determined by the Insolvency Law (InsO). Next, it classifies the documents to specific steps and events, and then presents their information content using textual analysis. Specifically, we identify target phrases via manual document checks and then create regular expressions for the target phrases. Classification of documents allows us to sketch most common paths that insolvent firms go through.}}, author = {{Ahlers, Theresa and Edossa, Fikir Worku and Uckert, Matthias and Kosi, Urska}}, keywords = {{insol database, insolvency process, Germany, court fillings}}, title = {{{Insolvcency Process in Germany and the insol database: A research Note}}}, year = {{2022}}, } @inbook{22221, author = {{Blankenfeldt, Maximilian and Müller, Jens and Weinrich, Arndt}}, booktitle = {{Intangibles - Immaterielle Werte}}, editor = {{Vögele, Alexander}}, isbn = {{978-3-406-71601-0}}, publisher = {{C.H.Beck}}, title = {{{Forschung und Entwicklung: Kriterien für die Aktivierung in der Unternehmenspraxis}}}, year = {{2021}}, } @article{36065, author = {{Flagmeier, Vanessa and Müller, Jens and Sureth-Sloane, Caren}}, issn = {{0001-4788}}, journal = {{Accounting and Business Research}}, keywords = {{Accounting, Finance}}, number = {{1}}, pages = {{1--37}}, publisher = {{Informa UK Limited}}, title = {{{When do firms highlight their effective tax rate?}}}, doi = {{10.1080/00014788.2021.1958669}}, volume = {{53}}, year = {{2021}}, } @techreport{37136, abstract = {{This study examines the relation between voluntary audit and the cost of debt in private firms. We use a sample of 4,058 small private firms operating in the period 2006‐2017 that are not subject to mandatory audits. Firms decide for a voluntary audit of financial statements either because the economic setting in which they operate effectively forces them to do so (e.g., ownership complexity, export‐oriented supply chain, subsidiary status) or because firm fundamentals and/or financial reporting practices limit their access to financial debt, both reflected in earnings quality. We use these factors to model the decision for voluntary audit. In the outcome analyses, we find robust evidence that voluntary audits are associated with higher, rather than lower, interest rate by up to 3.0 percentage points. This effect is present regardless of the perceived audit quality (Big‐4 vs. non‐Big‐4), but is stronger for non‐Big‐4 audits where auditees have a stronger position relative to auditors. Audited firms’ earnings are less informative about future operating performance relative to unaudited counterparts. We conclude that voluntary audits facilitate access to financial debt for firms with higher risk that may otherwise have no access to this form of financing. The price paid is reflected in higher interest rates charged to firms with voluntary audits – firms with higher information and/or fundamental risk.}}, author = {{Ichev, Riste and Koren, Jernej and Kosi, Urska and Sitar Sustar, Katarina and Valentincic, Aljosa}}, keywords = {{private firms, voluntary audit, cost of debt, self‐selection bias, risk}}, title = {{{Cost of Debt for Private Firms Revisited: Voluntary Audits as a Reflection of Risk}}}, year = {{2021}}, } @article{16486, abstract = {{After the introduction of CbCR – pursuant to the BEPS Project (Action 13) in 2015 –, which was established to reduce the information asymmetry between MNEs and tax authorities of the countries they operate in, now public CbCR – as suggested by the EU Commission in 2016 – is discussed as a next step. Here, the objective is to overcome information asymmetries between MNEs and the general public of the countries they operate in. Starting from the assumption that regulators care about the legitimacy of tax laws, this article evaluates pros and cons of public CbCR. The authors find that from the perspective of information asymmetries, public CbCR increases tax transparency only marginally at best. Accordingly, it is concluded that democracies that are based on the rule of law seem to rely on pillories in terms of public CbCR to enforce fair tax payments.}}, author = {{Lagarden, Martin and Schreiber, Ulrich and Simons, Dirk and Sureth-Sloane, Caren}}, journal = {{International Transfer Pricing Journal}}, number = {{2}}, title = {{{Country-by-Country Reporting Goes Public - Cui Bono?}}}, volume = {{27}}, year = {{2020}}, } @techreport{35089, author = {{Ebert, Michael and Kadane, Joseph (Jay) B. and Simons, Dirk and Stecher, Jack Douglas}}, issn = {{1556-5068}}, title = {{{Information Design in Coordination Games with Risk Dominant Equilibrium Selection}}}, doi = {{10.2139/ssrn.3564451}}, year = {{2020}}, } @techreport{14901, abstract = {{This study investigates whether country risk factors, including political and fiscal budget risk, attenuate the effectiveness of tax policy tools that aim to encourage corporate risk-taking. Exploiting a cross-country panel, we predict and find that the effectiveness of loss offset rules and tax rate changes is fully attenuated for firms located in high-risk countries. We document the attenuating effect of country risk is more pronounced in high-tax countries or when countries increase their corporate tax rate. Additional tests around the U.S. federal budget crises from 2011 to 2013 indicate that temporarily heightened fiscal budget risk attenuates the effectiveness of loss offset rules even in countries with low political risk. We identify conditions (low political and low fiscal budget risk) under which targeted tax policy tools effectively stimulate risk-taking. This suggests that ensuring taxpayers receive tax refunds is important in times of economic crises with budgetary or political challenges. }}, author = {{Osswald, Benjamin and Sureth-Sloane, Caren}}, title = {{{Do Country Risk Factors Attenuate the Effect of Tax Loss Incentives on Corporate Risk-Taking?}}}, doi = {{10.2139/ssrn.3297418}}, volume = {{TRR 266 Accounting for Transparency Working Paper Series No. 28}}, year = {{2020}}, } @techreport{17514, abstract = {{This paper introduces an index that captures the complexity of countries’ corporate income tax systems faced by multinational corporations. It is based on surveys of highly experienced tax consultants of the largest international tax services networks. The index, called the Tax Complexity Index (TCI), is composed of a tax code subindex covering tax regulations and a tax framework subindex covering tax processes and features. For a sample of 100 countries for the year 2016, we find that the level of tax complexity varies considerably across countries, while tax code and framework complexity also vary within countries. From a global perspective, tax complexity is strongly driven by the complexity of both transfer pricing regulations in the tax code and tax audits in the tax framework. When analyzing the associations with other country characteristics, we identify different correlation patterns. For example, tax framework complexity is negatively associated with countries’ governance, suggesting that strongly governed countries tend to have less complex tax frameworks, while tax code complexity is positively associated with the statutory tax rate, indicating that high-tax countries tend to have more complex tax codes. However, none of the observed associa-tions are very strong. We conclude that tax complexity represents a distinct country charac-teristic and propose the use of our TCI and its subindices in future research.}}, author = {{Hoppe, Thomas and Schanz, Debora and Sturm, Susann and Sureth-Sloane, Caren}}, title = {{{Measuring Tax Complexity Across Countries: A Survey Study on MNCs}}}, doi = {{10.2139/ssrn.3469663}}, year = {{2019}}, } @techreport{14902, author = {{Mair, Christina and Scheffler, Wolfram and Senger, Isabell and Sureth-Sloane, Caren}}, title = {{{Analyse der Veränderung der zwischenstaatlichen Gewinnaufteilung bei Einführung einer standardisierten Gewinnverteilungsmethode am Beispiel des Einsatzes von 3D-Druckern}}}, volume = {{42}}, year = {{2019}}, } @article{14905, abstract = {{A key premise underlying most of the economic literature is that rational decision-makers will choose dominant strategies over dominated alternatives. However, prior literature in various disciplines including business, psychology, and economics document a series of phenomena associated with violations of the dominance principle in decision-making. In this comprehensive review, we discuss conditions under which people violate the dominance principle in decision-making. When presenting violations of dominance in empirical and experimental studies, we differentiate between absolute, statewise, and stochastic (first- and second-order) violations of dominance. Furthermore, we categorize the literature by the leading causes for dominance violations: framing, reference points, certainty effects, bounded rationality, and emotional responses.}}, author = {{Kourouxous, Thomas and Bauer, Thomas}}, issn = {{2198-3402}}, journal = {{Business Research}}, number = {{1}}, pages = {{209--239}}, title = {{{Violations of Dominance in Decision-Making}}}, doi = {{10.1007/s40685-019-0093-7}}, volume = {{12}}, year = {{2019}}, } @techreport{14909, abstract = {{This paper introduces an index that captures the complexity of countries’ corporate income tax systems faced by multinational corporations. It is based on surveys of highly experienced tax consultants of the largest international tax services networks. The index, called the Tax Complexity Index (TCI), is composed of a tax code subindex covering tax regulations and a tax framework subindex covering tax processes and features. For a sample of 100 countries for the year 2016, we find that the level of tax complexity varies considerably across countries, while tax code and framework complexity also vary within countries. From a global perspective, tax complexity is strongly driven by the complexity of both transfer pricing regulations in the tax code and tax audits in the tax framework. When analyzing the associations with other country characteristics, we identify different correlation patterns. For example, tax framework complexity is negatively associated with countries’ governance, suggesting that strongly governed countries tend to have less complex tax frameworks, while tax code complexity is positively associated with the statutory tax rate, indicating that high tax countries tend to have more complex tax codes. However, none of the observed associations are very strong. We conclude that tax complexity represents a distinct country characteristic and propose the use of our TCI and its subindices in future research.}}, author = {{Hoppe, Thomas and Schanz, Deborah and Sturm, Susann and Sureth-Sloane, Caren}}, keywords = {{Tax Complexity, Tax Index, Tax System, Multinational Corporations, Tax Consultants}}, title = {{{Measuring Tax Complexity Across Countries: A Survey Study on MNCs}}}, doi = {{10.2139/ssrn.3469663}}, year = {{2019}}, } @techreport{37346, author = {{Müller, Jens and Gawehn, Vanessa}}, title = {{{Tax Avoidance - Are Banks Any Different?}}}, year = {{2019}}, } @article{4996, abstract = {{We analyze the impact of wealth taxes on investment timing decisions under uncertainty and irreversibility by employing a real options model of the Dixit/Pindyck type. Considering that wealth taxes have been (re-)introduced or are under discussion in many countries, investors need decision rules for tax systems with wealth taxation. We integrate different valuation methods for wealth tax purposes, distinguish between broadly and narrowly defined wealth taxes and vary the wealth tax rate to ascertain which wealth tax design is more or less likely to accelerate or delay investment. Our main findings are threefold. First, historical cost valuation reduces the distortive timing effects of wealth taxation compared to fair value accounting. Second, broadening the wealth tax base tends to accelerate investment during high interest rate periods and delay investment during low interest rate periods. Our results predict that wealth taxes with a broad tax base are likely to discourage risky investment in times of near-zero interest rates. These distortive wealth tax base effects, however, can be avoided by granting sufficiently high depreciation deductions for wealth tax purposes. Third, the investment timing effects of wealth tax rate variations are very sensitive to the riskiness of the underlying investment. Moreover, investment timing effects crucially depend upon the depreciation rate for wealth tax purposes. A tax legislator who aims to encourage risk taking should introduce generous depreciation deductions. Our study indicates that if a wealth tax is considered to be politically inevitable, possible harmful investment effects can be mitigated by choosing appropriate valuation methods and parameters.}}, author = {{Niemann, Rainer and Sureth-Sloane, Caren}}, issn = {{0044-2372}}, journal = {{Journal of Business Economics}}, number = {{4}}, pages = {{385--415}}, publisher = {{Springer Nature America, Inc}}, title = {{{Investment Timing Effects of Wealth Taxes under Uncertainty and Irreversibility}}}, doi = {{10.1007/s11573-018-0918-4}}, volume = {{89}}, year = {{2019}}, } @article{17715, abstract = {{Der Beitrag stellt die teilweise überschießende Wirkung des Referentenentwurfs des Bundesministeriums der Finanzen zur Grunderwerbsteuer mit Blick auf börsennotierte Kapitalgesellschaften dar und schlägt eine Erweiterung des Referentenentwurfs vor, wobei börsennotierte Kapitalgesellschaften vom Anwendungsbereich der neuen Vorschrift ausgenommen werden sollen.}}, author = {{Arbeitskreis Steuern der Schmalenbach-Gesellschaft für Betriebswirtschaft, (Caren Sureth-Sloane)}}, journal = {{Betriebs-Berater}}, number = {{25}}, pages = {{1438--1442}}, publisher = {{Deutscher Fachverlag GmbH }}, title = {{{Ein Lösungsvorschlag zur Vermeidung der überschießenden Wirkung der Grunderwerbsteuerreform bei börsennotierten Kapitalgesellschaften}}}, volume = {{74}}, year = {{2019}}, } @article{3902, abstract = {{All over the world, firms and governments are increasingly concerned about the rise in tax complexity. To manage it and develop effective simplification measures, detailed information on the current drivers of complexity is required. However, research on this topic is scarce. This is surprising as the latest developments-for example, those triggered by the BEPS project-have given rise to the conjecture that complexity drivers may have changed, thus questioning the findings of prior studies. In this article, we shed light on this issue and provide a global picture of the current drivers of tax complexity that multinational corporations face based on a survey of 221 highly experienced tax consultants from 108 countries. Our results show that prior complexity drivers of the tax code are still important, with details and changes of tax regulations being the two most important complexity drivers. We also find evidence for new important complexity drivers emerging from different areas of the tax framework, such as inconsistent decisions among tax officers (tax audits) or retroactively applied tax law amendments (tax enactment). Based on the tax consultants' responses, we develop a concept of tax complexity that is characterized by two pillars, tax code and tax framework complexity and illustrates the various aspects that should be considered when assessing the complexity of a country's tax system.}}, author = {{Hoppe, Thomas and Schanz, Deborah and Sturm, Susann and Sureth-Sloane, Caren}}, issn = {{ 0165-2826}}, journal = {{Intertax}}, number = {{8/9}}, pages = {{654--675}}, publisher = {{Kluwer Law International}}, title = {{{What are the Drivers of Tax Complexity for MNCs? Global Evidence}}}, volume = {{46}}, year = {{2018}}, } @article{17518, author = {{Hoppe, Thomas and Sturm, Susann and Sureth-Sloane, Caren}}, journal = {{Intertax}}, title = {{{What are the Drivers of Tax Complexity for MNCs? Global Evidence}}}, doi = {{10.2139/ssrn.3469663}}, year = {{2018}}, }