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Mixed ownership reform and corporate tax avoidance: Evidence of Chinese listed firms

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  • Wang, Wei
  • Wang, Hua
  • Wu, Ji (George)

Abstract

We find a significant negative relationship between a firm's mixed-ownership reform intensity ratio and the degree of corporate tax avoidance in China between 2003 and 2018. The path analyses demonstrate our finding is through the channel of a firm's financial constraints and analysts' earnings forecast dispersion. Furthermore, our main results are more pronounced for firms with a high level of media coverage and located in a region of weak tax enforcement or high willingness of government decentralisation. Finally, our results remain significant after alleviating a series of endogenous tests and robustness tests. We contribute to the literature to understand the causes of a firm's tax avoidance behaviour and the consequence of the mixed-ownership reform in China.

Suggested Citation

  • Wang, Wei & Wang, Hua & Wu, Ji (George), 2021. "Mixed ownership reform and corporate tax avoidance: Evidence of Chinese listed firms," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pacfin:v:69:y:2021:i:c:s0927538x21001554
    DOI: 10.1016/j.pacfin.2021.101648
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