Multidisciplinary issues in corporate tax policy

This paper provides a description of how information from multiple disciplines can inform the study of corporate tax policy. It first highlights the specific strengths that economics, law, and accounting each have in understanding taxpayer behavior. It then shows how theoretical and empirical economic models often fail to capture important aspects of behavior or institutions. Particular attention is paid to the data used by researchers, and the difficulties in measuring important characteristics of a firm. A detailed example on the importance of data is provided in the context of investment behavior. The paper ends with a summary of the potential advantages of a multidisciplinary approach.