In this study, I review the empirical literature on the real effects of corporate taxation. I define real effects broadly as firms' investment responses, corporate risk taking, capital structure choices, and aggregate outcomes such as GDP growth. I base my analysis on 79 empirical studies on the investment effects of corporate taxation and contrast these results to theoretical predictions. Consistent with theory, there seems to be a consensus that higher corporate tax rates reduce corporate investment, foreign direct investment (FDI), aggregate growth, and innovation. Similarly, many papers examine bonus depreciation, which consistently increases investment. At the same time, there is little evidence on the employment effects of corporate taxes and on the role of several tax base elements in shaping investments. Importantly, the role of tax avoidance (opportunities) in the tax effect on investment has received very little attention from the empirical literature over the past two decades. I also derive several other potential avenues for future research.

在本研究中，我回顾了有关企业税收实际影响的实证文献。我将实际影响广义地定义为公司的投资反应、公司风险承担、资本结构选择以及 GDP 增长等总体结果。我的分析基于 79 项关于企业税收投资效应的实证研究，并将这些结果与理论预测进行对比。与理论一致，似乎有一种共识，即较高的企业税率会减少企业投资、外国直接投资 (FDI)、总体增长和创新。同样，许多论文研究了奖金折旧，这不断增加投资。与此同时，几乎没有证据表明公司税对就业的影响以及若干税基要素在塑造投资方面的作用。重要的，在过去的二十年里，经验文献很少关注避税（机会）在投资税收效应中的作用。我还为未来的研究得出了其他几个潜在的途径。