@TechReport{CEPII:2020-09,
author={Julien Martin and Mathieu Parenti and Farid Toubal},
title={Corporate tax avoidance and industry concentration},
year=2020,
month=July,
institution={CEPII},
type={Working Papers},
url={https://www.cepii.fr/CEPII/en/publications/wp/abstract.asp?NoDoc=12702},
number={2020-09},
abstract={
This paper argues that tax avoidance by large corporations has contributed to the 25% increase in concentration among U.S. firms since the mid-1990s. Corporate tax avoidance gives large firms a competitive edge, which translates into larger market shares and an increase in the granularity of the economy. We develop IV and difference-in-differences strategies that show the causal impact of tax avoidance on firm-level sales. Had firms not resorted to tax avoidance in 2017, our results imply that the average industry concentration would have been 8.3% lower, which is around its early 2000 level.