IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jiaata/v46y2022ics1061951821000653.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The effect of foreign institutional ownership on corporate tax avoidance: International evidence

Author

Listed:
  • Hasan, Iftekhar
  • Kim, Incheol
  • Teng, Haimeng
  • Wu, Qiang

Abstract

We find that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) reduce their investee firms’ tax avoidance. We provide evidence that the effect is driven by the institutional distance between FIIs’ home countries/regions and host countries/regions. Specifically, we find that the effect is driven by the influence of FIIs from countries/regions with high-quality institutions (i.e., common law, high government effectiveness, and high regulatory quality) on investee firms located in countries/regions with low-quality institutions. Furthermore, we show that the effect is concentrated on FIIs with little experience in the investee countries/regions or FIIs with stronger monitoring incentives. Finally, we find that FIIs are more likely to vote against management if the firm has a higher level of tax avoidance.

Suggested Citation

  • Hasan, Iftekhar & Kim, Incheol & Teng, Haimeng & Wu, Qiang, 2022. "The effect of foreign institutional ownership on corporate tax avoidance: International evidence," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 46(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jiaata:v:46:y:2022:i:c:s1061951821000653
    DOI: 10.1016/j.intaccaudtax.2021.100440
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1061951821000653
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.intaccaudtax.2021.100440?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. Alex Edmans & Vivian W. Fang & Emanuel Zur, 2013. "The Effect of Liquidity on Governance," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 26(6), pages 1443-1482.
    3. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2014_003 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Bok Baik & Jun-Koo Kang & Jin-Mo Kim & Joonho Lee, 2013. "The liability of foreignness in international equity investments: Evidence from the US stock market," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 44(4), pages 391-411, May.
    5. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2017_021 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1986. "Large Shareholders and Corporate Control," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(3), pages 461-488, June.
    7. He, Jie (Jack) & Huang, Jiekun & Zhao, Shan, 2019. "Internalizing governance externalities: The role of institutional cross-ownership," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(2), pages 400-418.
    8. Rajan, Raghuram G & Zingales, Luigi, 1998. "Financial Dependence and Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(3), pages 559-586, June.
    9. Alex Edmans, 2009. "Blockholder Trading, Market Efficiency, and Managerial Myopia," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(6), pages 2481-2513, December.
    10. Miguel A. Ferreira & Massimo Massa & Pedro Matos, 2010. "Shareholders at the Gate? Institutional Investors and Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisitions," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(2), pages 601-644, February.
    11. Luong, Hoang & Moshirian, Fariborz & Nguyen, Lily & Tian, Xuan & Zhang, Bohui, 2017. "How Do Foreign Institutional Investors Enhance Firm Innovation?," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 52(4), pages 1449-1490, August.
    12. Peter J. Buckley & Mark Casson, 2010. "Analysing Foreign Market Entry Strategies: Extending the Internalisation Approach," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: The Multinational Enterprise Revisited, chapter 8, pages 177-204, Palgrave Macmillan.
    13. Caves, Richard E, 1971. "International Corporations: The Industrial Economics of Foreign Investment," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 38(149), pages 1-27, February.
    14. James H. Stock & Motohiro Yogo, 2002. "Testing for Weak Instruments in Linear IV Regression," NBER Technical Working Papers 0284, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Utpal Bhattacharya & Neal Galpin & Bruce Haslem, 2007. "The Home Court Advantage in International Corporate Litigation," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 50(4), pages 625-660.
    16. Michael P. Donohoe & W. Robert Knechel, 2014. "Does Corporate Tax Aggressiveness Influence Audit Pricing?," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(1), pages 284-308, March.
    17. Aggarwal, Reena & Erel, Isil & Ferreira, Miguel & Matos, Pedro, 2011. "Does governance travel around the world? Evidence from institutional investors," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(1), pages 154-181, April.
    18. Anat R. Admati & Paul Pfleiderer, 2009. "The "Wall Street Walk" and Shareholder Activism: Exit as a Form of Voice," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(7), pages 2445-2485, July.
    19. Scott D. Dyreng & Jeffrey L. Hoopes & Jaron H. Wilde, 2016. "Public Pressure and Corporate Tax Behavior," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(1), pages 147-186, March.
    20. 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.
    21. Kothari, S.P. & Leone, Andrew J. & Wasley, Charles E., 2005. "Performance matched discretionary accrual measures," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 163-197, February.
    22. Feng Chen & Ole‐Kristian Hope & Qingyuan Li & Xin Wang, 2018. "Flight to Quality in International Markets: Investors’ Demand for Financial Reporting Quality during Political Uncertainty Events," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 35(1), pages 117-155, March.
    23. 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.
    24. 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.
    25. Chen, Shuping & Huang, Ying & Li, Ningzhong & Shevlin, Terry, 2019. "How does quasi-indexer ownership affect corporate tax planning?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 278-296.
    26. R Greg Bell & Igor Filatotchev & Abdul A Rasheed, 2012. "The liability of foreignness in capital markets: Sources and remedies," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 43(2), pages 107-122, February.
    27. Brian J. Bushee, 2001. "Do Institutional Investors Prefer Near†Term Earnings over Long†Run Value?," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 18(2), pages 207-246, June.
    28. Mike Burkart & Denis Gromb & Fausto Panunzi, 1997. "Large Shareholders, Monitoring, and the Value of the Firm," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(3), pages 693-728.
    29. Ferreira, Miguel A. & Matos, Pedro, 2008. "The colors of investors' money: The role of institutional investors around the world," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(3), pages 499-533, June.
    30. Kalok Chan & Vicentiu Covrig & Lilian Ng, 2005. "What Determines the Domestic Bias and Foreign Bias? Evidence from Mutual Fund Equity Allocations Worldwide," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(3), pages 1495-1534, June.
    31. Joachim Gassen & Kristina Schwedler, 2010. "The Decision Usefulness of Financial Accounting Measurement Concepts: Evidence from an Online Survey of Professional Investors and their Advisors," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(3), pages 495-509.
    32. Iftekhar Hasan & Chun‐Keung (Stan) Hoi & Qiang Wu & Hao Zhang, 2017. "Does Social Capital Matter in Corporate Decisions? Evidence from Corporate Tax Avoidance," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(3), pages 629-668, June.
    33. 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.
    34. Vivian W. Fang & Mark Maffett & Bohui Zhang, 2015. "Foreign Institutional Ownership and the Global Convergence of Financial Reporting Practices," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(3), pages 593-631, June.
    35. Jeong-Bon Kim & Mikhail Pevzner & Xiangang Xin, 2019. "Foreign institutional ownership and auditor choice: Evidence from worldwide institutional ownership," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 50(1), pages 83-110, February.
    36. Anderson, Christopher W. & Fedenia, Mark & Hirschey, Mark & Skiba, Hilla, 2011. "Cultural influences on home bias and international diversification by institutional investors," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 916-934, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Patrick Velte, 2023. "Sustainable institutional investors, corporate sustainability performance, and corporate tax avoidance: Empirical evidence for the European capital market," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(5), pages 2406-2418, September.
    2. He Xiao & Jianqun Xi, 2023. "The Impact of Institutional Cross‐ownership on Corporate Tax Avoidance: Evidence from Chinese Listed Firms," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 33(1), pages 86-105, March.

    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. Simon Döring & Wolfgang Drobetz & Sadok El Ghoul & Omrane Guedhami & Henning Schröder, 2021. "Institutional investment horizons and firm valuation around the world," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 52(2), pages 212-244, March.
    2. Hasan, Iftekhar & Kim, Incheol & Teng, Haimeng & Wu, Qiang, 2016. "The effect of foreign institutional ownership on corporate tax avoidance: international evidence," Bank of Finland Research Discussion Papers 26/2016, Bank of Finland.
    3. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2016_026 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Yangyang Chen & Rui Ge & Henock Louis & Leon Zolotoy, 2019. "Stock liquidity and corporate tax avoidance," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 309-340, March.
    5. Hasan, Iftekhar & Kim, Incheol & Teng, Haimeng & Wu, Qiang, 2022. "The effect of foreign institutional ownership on corporate tax avoidance: International evidence," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 46(C).
    6. Dasgupta, Amil & Fos, Vyacheslav & Sautner, Zacharias, 2021. "Institutional investors and corporate governance," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 112114, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    7. 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.
    8. An, Zhe & Chen, Chen & Li, Donghui & Yin, Chao, 2021. "Foreign institutional ownership and the speed of leverage adjustment: International evidence," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    9. Vivian W. Fang & Mark Maffett & Bohui Zhang, 2015. "Foreign Institutional Ownership and the Global Convergence of Financial Reporting Practices," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(3), pages 593-631, June.
    10. Li, Yong & Han, Minghui & Faff, Robert & Zhang, Hao, 2022. "Foreign ownership and stock liquidity uncertainty," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    11. Chaudhry, Neeru, 2021. "Tax aggressiveness and idiosyncratic volatility," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    12. Ke Na & Wenjia Yan, 2022. "Languages and corporate tax avoidance," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 27(1), pages 148-184, March.
    13. Bajo, Emanuele & Croci, Ettore & Marinelli, Nicoletta, 2020. "Institutional investor networks and firm value," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 65-80.
    14. Fan, Yaoyao & Ly, Kim Cuong & Jiang, Yuxiang, 2023. "Institutional investor networks and firm innovation: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    15. Firth, Michael & Gao, Jin & Shen, Jianghua & Zhang, Yuanyuan, 2016. "Institutional stock ownership and firms’ cash dividend policies: Evidence from China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 91-107.
    16. 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.
    17. Guanming He & Helen Mengbing Ren & Richard Taffler, 2020. "The impact of corporate tax avoidance on analyst coverage and forecasts," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 54(2), pages 447-477, February.
    18. Jeong-Bon Kim & Mikhail Pevzner & Xiangang Xin, 2019. "Foreign institutional ownership and auditor choice: Evidence from worldwide institutional ownership," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 50(1), pages 83-110, February.
    19. Drobetz, Wolfgang & Ehlert, Sebastian & Schröder, Henning, 2021. "Institutional ownership and firm performance in the global shipping industry," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    20. Liang, Quanxi & Gao, Wenlian & Xie, Hongji, 2022. "Do foreign investors deter corporate fraud? Evidence from China," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 92-111.
    21. Tee, Chwee Ming, 2020. "Political connections and income smoothing: Evidence of institutional investors’ monitoring in Malaysia," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Institutional distance; Foreign institutional ownership; Tax avoidance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G23 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Non-bank Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments; Institutional Investors
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance
    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting

    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:jiaata:v:46:y:2022:i:c:s1061951821000653. 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: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-international-accounting-auditing-and-taxation .

    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.