What Can Be Learned from Billions of Invoices? The Construction and Application of China’s Multiregional Input-Output Table Based on Big Data from the Value-Added Tax

ABSTRACT

The big data on the value-added tax (VAT), which links upstream production and downstream consumption, can serve as a key basis for a structured macroeconomic analysis. This paper discusses the construction and aggregation method of the transaction matrix between enterprises based on this data and develops a multiregional input-output (MRIO) table. The intraregional structure of this table is consistent with the IO table in China’s national statistics and includes more detail on the domestic value chain. We use big data on the VAT in creating an analytical tool to track profit shifting and tax avoidance. Therefore, this new MRIO table can coordinate consumption-based measures with the “destination principle” in international VAT statistics.

KEY WORDS:

• big data
• supply-side economy
• value-added tax

Notes

1. The four main types of goods are: food and edible vegetable oil; running water, heating, air-conditioning, hot water, gas, liquefied petroleum gas, natural gas, methane, and coal products for household use; books, newspapers, and magazines; fodder, chemical fertilizer, pesticide, farm machinery, and agricultural film.

Additional information

Funding

This research is funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China General Project [Project No. 71873075] and National Natural Science Foundation of China Key Project [Project No. 71733003], Tsinghua University Independent Study Plan [Project No. 20151080359] and National Social Science Foundation of China key project [grant number: 17ZDA077].