IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/empfin/v69y2022icp63-80.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Is corporate tax avoidance related to employee treatment?

Author

Listed:
  • Schochet, Sholom
  • Benlemlih, Mohammed
  • Jaballah, Jamil

Abstract

This paper investigates the empirical association between corporate tax avoidance and employee treatment. Using both aggressive and innocuous tax avoidance measures and MSCI ESG’s “Employee Relations” dimension, we provide strong evidence of a positive relationship between the two constructs. Our findings are robust to various measures of corporate tax avoidance and employee treatment. Our testing also indicates that the positive relationship is driven by the “strengths” dimension of employee treatment for risky tax avoidance and “concerns” for innocuous tax avoidance. Taken together, our study’s results are consistent with the theories of labor incidence and compensating differentials and suggest that employees require a compensation premium for bearing the increased financial risks resulting from CTA.

Suggested Citation

  • Schochet, Sholom & Benlemlih, Mohammed & Jaballah, Jamil, 2022. "Is corporate tax avoidance related to employee treatment?," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 63-80.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:empfin:v:69:y:2022:i:c:p:63-80
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jempfin.2022.08.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927539822000627
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jempfin.2022.08.002?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chen, Shuping & Chen, Xia & Cheng, Qiang & Shevlin, Terry, 2010. "Are family firms more tax aggressive than non-family firms?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(1), pages 41-61, January.
    2. Walid Hejazi & Eric Santor, 2010. "Foreign asset risk exposure, DOI, and performance: An analysis of Canadian banks," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 41(5), pages 845-860, June.
    3. Juan Carlos Suárez Serrato & Owen Zidar, 2016. "Who Benefits from State Corporate Tax Cuts? A Local Labor Markets Approach with Heterogeneous Firms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(9), pages 2582-2624, September.
    4. Clemens Fuest & Andreas Peichl & Sebastian Siegloch, 2018. "Do Higher Corporate Taxes Reduce Wages? Micro Evidence from Germany," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(2), pages 393-418, February.
    5. Armstrong, Christopher S. & Blouin, Jennifer L. & Larcker, David F., 2012. "The incentives for tax planning," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 391-411.
    6. Arnold C. Harberger, 1962. "The Incidence of the Corporation Income Tax," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 70, pages 215-215.
    7. Francesco Bova & Yiwei Dou & Ole†Kristian Hope, 2015. "Employee Ownership and Firm Disclosure," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(2), pages 639-673, June.
    8. Li, Elizabeth H, 1986. "Compensating Differentials for Cyclical and Noncyclical Unemployment: The Interaction between Investors' and Employees' Risk Aversion," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 4(2), pages 277-300, April.
    9. Karine Nyborg & Tao Zhang, 2013. "Is Corporate Social Responsibility Associated with Lower Wages?," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 55(1), pages 107-117, May.
    10. Jennifer Brown & David A. Matsa, 2016. "Boarding a Sinking Ship? An Investigation of Job Applications to Distressed Firms," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 71(2), pages 507-550, April.
    11. Kirsten A. Cook & William J. Moser & Thomas C. Omer, 2017. "Tax avoidance and ex ante cost of capital," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(7-8), pages 1109-1136, July.
    12. Luigi Zingales, 2000. "In Search of New Foundations," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(4), pages 1623-1653, August.
    13. Lin, Kenny Z. & Cheng, Suwina & Zhang, Fang, 2017. "Corporate Social Responsibility, Institutional Environments, and Tax Avoidance: Evidence from a Subnational Comparison in China," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 52(4), pages 303-318.
    14. Arulampalam, Wiji & Devereux, Michael P. & Maffini, Giorgia, 2012. "The direct incidence of corporate income tax on wages," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(6), pages 1038-1054.
    15. Joan Wiggenhorn & Seema Pissaris & Kimberly Gleason, 2016. "Powerful CEOs and employee relations: evidence from corporate social responsibility indicators," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 40(1), pages 85-104, January.
    16. Agrawal, Ashwini K. & Matsa, David A., 2013. "Labor unemployment risk and corporate financing decisions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(2), pages 449-470.
    17. Liu, Li & Altshuler, Rosanne, 2013. "Measuring the Burden of the Corporate Income Tax Under Imperfect Competition," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 66(1), pages 215-237, March.
    18. Inga Hardeck & Rebecca Hertl, 2014. "Consumer Reactions to Corporate Tax Strategies: Effects on Corporate Reputation and Purchasing Behavior," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 123(2), pages 309-326, August.
    19. Hamermesh, Daniel S & Wolfe, John R, 1990. "Compensating Wage Differentials and the Duration of Wage Loss," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 8(1), pages 175-197, January.
    20. Mihir A Desai & Dhammika Dharmapala, 2009. "Corporate Tax Avoidance and Firm Value," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 91(3), pages 537-546, August.
    21. Suresh Nallareddy & Ethan Rouen & Juan Carlos Suárez Serrato, 2022. "Do Corporate Tax Cuts Increase Income Inequality?," Tax Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(1), pages 35-91.
    22. Hasan, Iftekhar & Hoi, Chun Keung (Stan) & Wu, Qiang & Zhang, Hao, 2014. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder: The effect of corporate tax avoidance on the cost of bank loans," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(1), pages 109-130.
    23. Kim, Jeong-Bon & Li, Yinghua & Zhang, Liandong, 2011. "Corporate tax avoidance and stock price crash risk: Firm-level analysis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(3), pages 639-662, June.
    24. Dou, Yiwei & Khan, Mozaffar & Zou, Youli, 2016. "Labor unemployment insurance and earnings management," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 166-184.
    25. Mohammed Benlemlih & Isabelle Girerd-Potin, 2017. "Corporate social responsibility and firm financial risk reduction: On the moderating role of the legal environment," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(7-8), pages 1137-1166, July.
    26. Smith, Adam, 1776. "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, number smith1776.
    27. Kotchen Matthew & Moon Jon J., 2012. "Corporate Social Responsibility for Irresponsibility," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 12(1), pages 1-23, November.
    28. Alan J. Auerbach, 2018. "Measuring the Effects of Corporate Tax Cuts," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 32(4), pages 97-120, Fall.
    29. Bae, Kee-Hong & Kang, Jun-Koo & Wang, Jin, 2011. "Employee treatment and firm leverage: A test of the stakeholder theory of capital structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(1), pages 130-153, April.
    30. repec:eee:labchp:v:1:y:1986:i:c:p:641-692 is not listed on IDEAS
    31. Chemmanur, Thomas J. & Cheng, Yingmei & Zhang, Tianming, 2013. "Human capital, capital structure, and employee pay: An empirical analysis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(2), pages 478-502.
    32. Hales, Jeffrey & Moon, James R. & Swenson, Laura A., 2018. "A new era of voluntary disclosure? Empirical evidence on how employee postings on social media relate to future corporate disclosures," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 68, pages 88-108.
    33. Bame-Aldred, Charles W. & Cullen, John B. & Martin, Kelly D. & Parboteeah, K. Praveen, 2013. "National culture and firm-level tax evasion," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(3), pages 390-396.
    34. Hanlon, Michelle & Slemrod, Joel, 2009. "What does tax aggressiveness signal? Evidence from stock price reactions to news about tax shelter involvement," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(1-2), pages 126-141, February.
    35. Kevin A. Hassett & Aparna Mathur, 2015. "A spatial model of corporate tax incidence," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(13), pages 1350-1365, March.
    36. Sebastian Krautheim & Tim Schmidt-Eisenlohr, 2016. "Wages and International Tax Competition," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(5), pages 893-923, November.
    37. Erica L. Groshen, 1991. "Sources of Intra-Industry Wage Dispersion: How Much Do Employers Matter?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(3), pages 869-884.
    38. John Gallemore & Edward L. Maydew & Jacob R. Thornock, 2014. "The Reputational Costs of Tax Avoidance," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(4), pages 1103-1133, December.
    39. Chyz, James A. & Ching Leung, Winnie Siu & Zhen Li, Oliver & Meng Rui, Oliver, 2013. "Labor unions and tax aggressiveness," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(3), pages 675-698.
    40. Sandra A. Waddock & Samuel B. Graves, 1997. "The Corporate Social Performance–Financial Performance Link," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(4), pages 303-319, April.
    41. Marion Dupire & Bouchra M’Zali, 2018. "CSR Strategies in Response to Competitive Pressures," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(3), pages 603-623, March.
    42. John R. Graham & Hyunseob Kim & Si Li & Jiaping Qiu, 2019. "Employee Costs of Corporate Bankruptcy," NBER Working Papers 25922, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    43. James J. Heckman & Hidehiko Ichimura & Petra E. Todd, 1997. "Matching As An Econometric Evaluation Estimator: Evidence from Evaluating a Job Training Programme," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 64(4), pages 605-654.
    44. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2014_003 is not listed on IDEAS
    45. Olubunmi Faleye & Emery Trahan, 2011. "Labor-Friendly Corporate Practices: Is What is Good for Employees Good for Shareholders?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 101(1), pages 1-27, June.
    46. Mine Ertugrul, 2013. "Employee-Friendly Acquirers And Acquisition Performance," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 36(3), pages 347-370, September.
    47. Larcker, David F. & Rusticus, Tjomme O., 2010. "On the use of instrumental variables in accounting research," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 186-205, April.
    48. Sonja Olhoft Rego & Ryan Wilson, 2012. "Equity Risk Incentives and Corporate Tax Aggressiveness," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(3), pages 775-810, June.
    49. Dyreng, Scott D. & Hanlon, Michelle & Maydew, Edward L. & Thornock, Jacob R., 2017. "Changes in corporate effective tax rates over the past 25 years," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(3), pages 441-463.
    50. Mitchell A. Petersen, 2009. "Estimating Standard Errors in Finance Panel Data Sets: Comparing Approaches," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(1), pages 435-480, January.
    51. Kong-Pin & C.Y. Cyrus Chu, 2005. "Internal Control versus External Manipulation: A Model of Corporate Income Tax Evasion," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 36(1), pages 151-164, Spring.
    52. Hasan, Iftekhar & Wu, Qiang & Zhang, Hao & Hoi, Chun-Keung (Stan), 2014. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder: The effect of corporate tax avoidance on the cost of bank loans," Bank of Finland Research Discussion Papers 3/2014, Bank of Finland.
    53. Edmans, Alex, 2011. "Does the stock market fully value intangibles? Employee satisfaction and equity prices," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(3), pages 621-640, September.
    54. Alm, James & Torgler, Benno, 2006. "Culture differences and tax morale in the United States and in Europe," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 224-246, April.
    55. Hanlon, Michelle & Heitzman, Shane, 2010. "A review of tax research," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 127-178, December.
    56. Desai, Mihir A. & Dharmapala, Dhammika, 2006. "Corporate tax avoidance and high-powered incentives," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(1), pages 145-179, January.
    57. Ghaly, Mohamed & Dang, Viet Anh & Stathopoulos, Konstantinos, 2015. "Cash holdings and employee welfare," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 53-70.
    58. Mohammed Benlemlih & Isabelle Girerd-Potin, 2017. "Corporate social responsibility and firm financial risk reduction: On the moderating role of the legal environment," Post-Print hal-01977064, HAL.
    59. Chen, Jie & Leung, Woon Sau & Evans, Kevin P., 2016. "Are employee-friendly workplaces conducive to innovation?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 61-79.
    60. Verwijmeren, Patrick & Derwall, Jeroen, 2010. "Employee well-being, firm leverage, and bankruptcy risk," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 956-964, May.
    61. Gilles Hilary, 2006. "Organized Labor and Information Asymmetry in the Financial Markets," Post-Print hal-00482326, HAL.
    62. Caroline Flammer, 2015. "Does product market competition foster corporate social responsibility? Evidence from trade liberalization," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(10), pages 1469-1485, October.
    63. Paul C. Godfrey & Craig B. Merrill & Jared M. Hansen, 2009. "The relationship between corporate social responsibility and shareholder value: an empirical test of the risk management hypothesis," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 425-445, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mohammed Benlemlih & Jamil Jaballah & Sholom Schochet & Jonathan Peillex, 2023. "Corporate social responsibility and corporate tax avoidance: The channel effect of consumer awareness," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1-2), pages 31-60, January.
    2. Han, Xiaomei & Wang, Jie & Cheng, Hanxiu, 2021. "The effect of corporate tax avoidance on salary distribution——Empirical evidence from publicly listed companies in China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    3. Chaudhry, Neeru, 2021. "Tax aggressiveness and idiosyncratic volatility," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    4. Shen, Yi, 2022. "Labor unemployment insurance and bank loans," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    5. Martin Jacob & Anna Rohlfing-Bastian & Kai Sandner, 2021. "Why do not all firms engage in tax avoidance?," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 459-495, February.
    6. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2016_005 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Francis, Bill B. & Hasan, Iftekhar & Sun, Xian & Wu, Qiang, 2016. "CEO political preference and corporate tax sheltering," Bank of Finland Research Discussion Papers 5/2016, Bank of Finland.
    8. Francis, Bill B. & Hasan, Iftekhar & Sun, Xian & Wu, Qiang, 2016. "CEO political preference and corporate tax sheltering," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 37-53.
    9. Cao, Zhangfan & Rees, William, 2020. "Do employee-friendly firms invest more efficiently? Evidence from labor investment efficiency," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    10. Jinshuai Hu & Siqi Li & Terry Shevlin, 2023. "How does the market for corporate control impact tax avoidance? Evidence from international M&A laws," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 340-383, March.
    11. A. Hong, Hyun & Lobo, Gerald J. & Ryou, Ji Woo, 2019. "Financial market development and firm investment in tax avoidance: Evidence from credit default swap market," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 1-1.
    12. Shams, Syed & Bose, Sudipta & Gunasekarage, Abeyratna, 2022. "Does corporate tax avoidance promote managerial empire building?," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(1).
    13. Fangjun Wang & Shuolei Xu & Junqin Sun & Charles P. Cullinan, 2020. "Corporate Tax Avoidance: A Literature Review And Research Agenda," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(4), pages 793-811, September.
    14. Masako Darrough & Heedong Kim & Emanuel Zur, 2019. "The Impact of Corporate Welfare Policy on Firm-Level Productivity: Evidence from Unemployment Insurance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(3), pages 795-815, October.
    15. Kovermann, Jost & Velte, Patrick, 2019. "The impact of corporate governance on corporate tax avoidance—A literature review," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 1-1.
    16. Wei Huang & Tingting Ying & Yun Shen, 2018. "Executive cash compensation and tax aggressiveness of Chinese firms," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 51(4), pages 1151-1180, November.
    17. Cao, Feng & Li, Sifei & Dai, Ming & Li, Jing, 2023. "Your heart is where your treasure is: Family chairman and tax avoidance in family-controlled firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    18. Kim, Tae-Nyun & Lee, Pil-Seng, 2023. "Product market threats and tax avoidance," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    19. Juan Monterrey Mayoral & Amparo Sánchez Segura, 2015. "Planificación fiscal y Gobierno Corporativo en las empresas cotizadas españolas," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 214(3), pages 55-89, September.
    20. Boubaker, Sabri & Chourou, Lamia & Haddar, Marwa & Hamza, Taher, 2019. "Does employee welfare affect corporate debt maturity?," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 674-686.
    21. Brooks, Chris & Godfrey, Chris & Hillenbrand, Carola & Money, Kevin, 2016. "Do investors care about corporate taxes?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 218-248.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Corporate tax avoidance; Employee treatment; Compensating differentials; Labor incidence;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance
    • J53 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Labor-Management Relations; Industrial Jurisprudence
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:empfin:v:69:y:2022:i:c:p:63-80. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jempfin .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.