| Abstract: | This paper demonstrates that the treatment of depreciation in the federal tax code is nonneutral not only with respect to assets and industries, as demonstrated in a number of recent studies, but also with respect to location. Using a unique set of data for manufacturing plants in Los Angeles and Philadelphia, the paper shows that the 1981 Tax Act's reduction of equipment lives to five years is likely to create differences in effective tax rates and wedges between the sample metropolitan areas for groups of plants with the same two-digit industrial classification. These are attributable to spatial differences in corporate tax rates and the type and quality of assets used. The paper concludes by explaining how the results can be generalized to other sectors and metropolitan areas, and by noting some implications for policy. |
