I think that the why and the how are important factors. I think that corporal punishment has its place (I don't mean that it is an essential part of a parent's repertoire), but that place is very small and it is not necessary 9 times out of 10. It should never be performed out of anger, for gratification, or with intent to injure. The propensity for punishment to cross over into abuse, or an abusive pattern, depends largely (I believe) upon the temperament of the parent. A downside is that the more you do it, the less meaningful it becomes.
That aside, a child will best learn lessons through firsthand experiences and not imposed punishment. A hypothetical example where I might consider it due to outlying behavior is if a kid was doing something that could cause grievous harm i.e. having fun shoving smaller kids down stairs or throwing large rocks at them and was not receptive to attempts to deter, educate, counsel, or other forms of punishment like time-out, cutting privileges, etc. Another issue though is what happens if that last resort doesn't work?