Abstract

​Welfare states are conceived as a common effort to improve societal wellbeing. Its primary role is to support people’s development, health and security. Individuals may not expect to fully benefit from the welfare state, while refusing to pay their share of taxes. Yet, some large corporations are able to effectively exploit public investments, in the form of welfare measures, without contributing to their funding. This article presents some insights into the issue of corporate tax avoidance,  and discusses how integrating different disciplinary perspectives may help produce stronger responses to it. This article’s main objective is to demonstrate the advantages of adopting an interdisciplinary approach when designing solutions to contemporary problems. Knowledge from philosophy, political science and economics, together with interdisciplinary research theory are the protagonists of this process. 

Evidence for Practice

• The welfare state supports firms‘ growth, but corporate tax avoidance makes welfare investments unsustainable. 
• The state has the power to be proactive and influence the behavior of corporations, rather than wait to punish them. 
• Integrating insights from different disciplines allows for a more comprehensive approach.

Keywords: Corporate tax avoidance, interdisciplinary research, limitarianism, lobbying, income shifting, welfare state.

Ciations: Napolitano, N. (2023). Corporate Tax Avoidance and the Welfare State. An Interdisciplinary Approach. Public Note, 10(2), 8-13.

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About the author

"Hello! My name is Nicolò Napolitano! I’m 21 years old, and currently a third-year student of Philosophy, Politics and Economics (BSc) at Utrecht University. In the past two years, many policy-related topics have caught my interest. From global affairs and public administration to human security and development, which I also explored at the Sciences Po Summer School. The article on corporate tax avoidance represents a compact version of a longer paper, written for a course on interdisciplinary research methods. I believe observing the somewhat chaotic Italian politics while growing up has influenced my view of public administration and bureaucracy. Wondering why the state constantly (and frustratingly) fails to work as we would want it to, motivated me to study welfare state policy-related issues. I understood fairly quickly that no single discipline can explain it all, as human behavior is hard to predict. Thus, I’m currently focusing on more advanced economic psychology and behavioral public administration courses. I’m grateful for the opportunity of publishing my article here, and make a small contribution to the debate over the pressing issue of corporate tax avoidance, its negative repercussions on the welfare state, and how governments may respond to it."