This article carries out a comparative analysis of the tax burden borne by listed companies in the USA and the European Union (EU) and of the determinants of the Effective Tax Rate (ETR). A sample of companies was drawn up from the Datastream/Worldscope database over the period 1995-2007. By applying panel data estimation procedures, the main findings are, on the one hand, that ETRs are significantly lower for US firms than for European firms and that the tax burden is determined by both the actual characteristics of the individual firm and by the tax policies adopted by governments.
Intertax