Replication Package README

PAPER: Corporate Tax System Complexity and Investment Sensitivity to Tax Policy Changes
CREATED BY: Amberger, Gallemore, and Wilde
DATE: December 16, 2025
STATA VERSION: 19


OVERVIEW:

This replication package contains the Stata code required to prepare the data and reproduce 
all tables and figures reported in the manuscript and the Online Appendix. The files are 
designed to be executed sequentially, beginning with the master do-file.


FILE INVENTORY: 

The replication package contains the following eight Stata do files:

	1) 0_master.do
	2) 0_1_additional_orbis_data_prep.do
	3) 0_2_country_level_data_prep.do
	4) 0_3_tax_rate_data_prep_announced_enacted.do
	5) 0_4_tax_rate_data_prep_aseffective.do
	6) 1_data_sample_prep.do
	7) 2_primary_analysis.do
	8) 3_stacked_DiD.do
	
The file 0_master.do is a master do-file that executes all remaining do-files in the correct sequence.


PURPOSE OF DO-FILES:

The individual do-files serve the following purposes:

	0_1_additional_orbis_data_prep: 
		Prepares supplemental ORBIS firm-level data that are later merged with the primary sample.	
		
	0_2_country_level_data_prep: 
		Prepares country-level data for merging with the primary sample.	
		
	0_3_tax_rate_data_prep_announced_enacted: 
		Prepares country-level data on announced/enacted tax rates for merging with the primary sample.
	
	0_4_tax_rate_data_prep_aseffective: 
		Replicates 0_3_tax_rate_data_prep_announced_enacted but prepares tax 
		rates measured on an as-effective basis. 
	
	1_data_sample_prep: 
		Constructs the primary sample, including processing raw Orbis data,
       		merging country-level data, constructing dependent and independent variables,
        	applying sample restrictions, and cleaning the final dataset.
	
	2_primary_analysis: 
		Conducts the primary analyses and reproduces the corresponding tables and 
		figures reported in the manuscript and the Online Appendix.
		
	3_stacked_DiD.do
		Conducts the secondary analyses using a stacked difference-in-differences 
		research design and reproduces the corresponding tables and figures reported 
		in the manuscript and the Online Appendix.


NOTES FOR EXECUTION:

After executing do-files 0_* through 1_data_sample_prep.do, running 2_primary_analysis.do 
reproduces all tables and figures for the primary analyses reported in the manuscript and 
the Online Appendix.

Running 3_stacked_DiD.do reproduces the results for the secondary stacked difference-in-
differences analyses.

Users are encouraged to begin by running 0_master.do, which ensures that all files are 
executed in the correct order and that all dependencies are satisfied.


USER-WRITTEN PACKAGES:

Some portions of the code rely on user-written Stata packages (e.g., reghdfe). The 
do-files include commands to automatically install required packages using ssc install 
if they are not already available on the user's system.


IDENTIFIERS

The file primary_sample_BVD_IDs.csv contains Bureau van Dijk (BvD) firm identifiers 
for all firms included in the primary sample (417,161 unique firms). Users with access 
to Orbis may import these identifiers directly into Orbis to retrieve the corresponding 
firm-level data.