Firm-Level Analysis of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on Capital Expenditures

Author

Mason Westphal, University of Arkansas, FayettevilleFollow

Date of Graduation

5-2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science in Business Administration

Degree Level

Undergraduate

Department

Accounting

Advisor/Mentor

Crawley, Micheal

Committee Member/Reader

Thomas, JaLynn

Abstract

This study investigates the firm-level consequences to capital expenditure levels from the passing of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA). It theorized that favorable tax provisions in the TCJA would cause firms to increase their levels of capital expenditures. To test this hypothesis, the study analyzed the capital expenditure levels of public firms from 1986-2019 controlling for factors such as national gross domestic product (GDP) growth and used a dummy variable of reporting periods after 2018 to represent the effects of the TCJA. In contrast to the original hypothesis, the results demonstrate that the TCJA had a statistically significant small negative effect on the level of capital expenditures after 2018 independent of other macroeconomic, industry, and firm-level factors.

Keywords

Tax Cuts and Jobs Act; TCJA; Capital Expenditures Growth from TCJA; Model for CAPEX; Economic growth from TCJA; Capital Expenditures; Factors that determine CAPEX

Citation

Westphal, M. (2021). Firm-Level Analysis of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on Capital Expenditures. Accounting Undergraduate Honors Theses Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/acctuht/40