Corporate Taxes and Foreign Direct Investment: An Impact Analysis

Abstract

Objective – The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of corporate taxes on the flow of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Nigeria between 1983 and 2017. Methodology/Technique – This study adopts an ex-post facto research design. Secondary data was sourced from the World Bank Development Indicator, the Central Bank of Nigeria database, and the Federal Inland Revenue database. The research data was analyzed using the Error Correction Model (ECM). Findings – The coefficient of determination (R2) shows that approximately 77% of systematic changes in FDI are attributed to the combined effect of all of the explanatory variables used in this study. Specifically, the study concludes that Company Income Tax, Value Added Tax, and Custom and Excise Duties have a significant but negative relationship with FDI. In contrast, Tertiary Education Tax has a positive association with FDI. Further, Exchange Rate has a negative but significant relationship with FDI, Inflation had an insignificant but positive association with FDI, and GDP growth Rate and Trade Openness demonstrate a positive and significant association with FDI. Novelty – The findings of this study are distinguishable from previous studies, as it uncovers new evidence that higher Education Tax Rates influences FDI and emerging evidence on the effect of non-tax variables on FDI inflow. Type of Paper: Empirical. JEL Classification: E22, F21, H2, P33. Keywords: Corporate Taxes; Foreign Direct Investment; Error Correction Model; Nigeria; Non-Tax Variables. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Edo, O.C; Okafor, A; Justice, A.E. 2020. Corporate Taxes and Foreign Direct Investment: An Impact Analysis, Acc. Fin. Review 5 (2): 28 – 43. https://doi.org/10.35609/afr.2020.5.2(1)