The Classification and Prediction of Transfer Pricing Methods using Discriminant Analysis

An attempt is made in this paper to discriminate among four groups of transfer pricing methods namely: market price, cost, negotiation, and other methods, according to the transfer pricing objectives and other environmental issues (i.e. transfer pricing determinants). Discrimination is attempted on the data collected in the study of UK companies described in the earlier paper “A Survey of UK Transfer Pricing Practice — Some Preliminary Findings”. The aim of the discrimination is to evaluate the relationship between the transfer pricing method and transfer pricing determinants. This evaluation enables the prediction of transfer pricing method for new cases according to the company's perception of the relative importance of the transfer pricing determinants.