Investment and Financing Strategy of a Multinational Enterprise under alternative tax designs

This paper investigates the consequences of a series of alternative international tax designs on the strategy of a multinational enterprise regarding the cross border distribution of its investment and the choice of its financing behavior. We start with a world where no international tax rules are at work. Then we successively introduce (i) the rules provided by the OECD Model Tax Convention, (ii) the EU Parent-Subsidiary Directive of July 23, 1990; and (iii) a combination of Allowance for Corporate Equity (ACE) and Comprehensive Business Income Tax (CBIT). Finally, we leave systems based on Separate Accounting (SA)aside and turn to Consolidation and Formulary Apportionment (C&FA) adopted either by all the jurisdictions at work in the model, or by a sole subset of them within the framework of an Enhanced Cooperation Agreement (ECA).