IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/ormnsc/v68y2022i11p8319-8342.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Unintended Consequence of Land Finance: Evidence from Corporate Tax Avoidance

Author

Listed:
  • Tao Chen

    (Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798, Singapore)

  • Youchao Tan

    (School of Management, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China)

  • Jinghua Wang

    (School of Accounting, Nanjing Audit University, Nanjing 211815, China; Institute of Intelligent Management Accounting and Internal Control, Nanjing Audit University, Nanjing 211815, China)

  • Cheng (Colin) Zeng

    (School of Accounting and Finance, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong)

Abstract

Using a large sample of unlisted industrial firms in China, we find that a decrease in local governments’ land transfer revenues leads to lower tax avoidance by firms within their jurisdiction. Our cross-sectional variation tests suggest that the tax-avoidance-reduction effect is stronger in cities with higher land finance dependence and government intervention, as well as where the political leaders have stronger promotion incentives. However, the effect is moderated for politically connected firms. Further analysis reveals that intensified tax enforcement is the mechanism through which land transfer revenue losses result in decreased tax avoidance. Our study offers novel evidence on a previously underexplored determinant of corporate tax avoidance through the lens of land finance.

Suggested Citation

  • Tao Chen & Youchao Tan & Jinghua Wang & Cheng (Colin) Zeng, 2022. "The Unintended Consequence of Land Finance: Evidence from Corporate Tax Avoidance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(11), pages 8319-8342, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:68:y:2022:i:11:p:8319-8342
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2021.4191
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2021.4191
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/mnsc.2021.4191?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
    ---><---

    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. Thomas Chaney & David Sraer & David Thesmar, 2012. "The Collateral Channel: How Real Estate Shocks Affect Corporate Investment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(6), pages 2381-2409, October.
    3. 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.
    4. Yingyi Qian, 2000. "The Process of China's Market Transition (1978-1998): The Evolutionary, Historical, and Comparative Perspectives," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 156(1), pages 151-151, March.
    5. Wei Jiang, 2017. "Have Instrumental Variables Brought Us Closer to the Truth," The Review of Corporate Finance Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 6(2), pages 127-140.
    6. Fan, Joseph P.H. & Wong, T.J. & Zhang, Tianyu, 2007. "Politically connected CEOs, corporate governance, and Post-IPO performance of China's newly partially privatized firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 330-357, May.
    7. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2014_003 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Scholes, Ms & Wilson, Gp & Wolfson, Ma, 1992. "Firms Responses To Anticipated Reductions In Tax Rates - The Tax-Reform Act Of 1986," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30, pages 161-185.
    9. Allen, Franklin & Qian, Jun & Qian, Meijun, 2005. "Law, finance, and economic growth in China," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(1), pages 57-116, July.
    10. Zhu, Hongjia & Deng, Yongheng & Zhu, Rong & He, Xiaobo, 2016. "Fear of nuclear power? Evidence from Fukushima nuclear accident and land markets in China," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 139-154.
    11. Peterson, George E. & Kaganova, Olga, 2010. "Integrating land financing into subnational fiscal management," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5409, The World Bank.
    12. Bai, Chong-En & Xu, Lixin Colin, 2005. "Incentives for CEOs with multitasks: Evidence from Chinese state-owned enterprises," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 517-539, September.
    13. Wu, Jing & Gyourko, Joseph & Deng, Yongheng, 2016. "Evaluating the risk of Chinese housing markets: What we know and what we need to know," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 91-114.
    14. Kenny Z. Lin & Lillian F. Mills & Fang Zhang & Yongbo Li, 2018. "Do Political Connections Weaken Tax Enforcement Effectiveness?," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 35(4), pages 1941-1972, December.
    15. Cen, Ling & Maydew, Edward L. & Zhang, Liandong & Zuo, Luo, 2017. "Customer–supplier relationships and corporate tax avoidance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(2), pages 377-394.
    16. Chenggang Xu, 2011. "The Fundamental Institutions of China's Reforms and Development," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 49(4), pages 1076-1151, December.
    17. Hongbin Cai & Qiao Liu, 2009. "Competition and Corporate Tax Avoidance: Evidence from Chinese Industrial Firms," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 119(537), pages 764-795, April.
    18. Joana Naritomi, 2019. "Consumers as Tax Auditors," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(9), pages 3031-3072, September.
    19. Eric Maskin & Yingyi Qian & Chenggang Xu, 2000. "Incentives, Information, and Organizational Form," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 67(2), pages 359-378.
    20. 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.
    21. Joseph D. Piotroski & T. J. Wong & Tianyu Zhang, 2015. "Political Incentives to Suppress Negative Information: Evidence from Chinese Listed Firms," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(2), pages 405-459, May.
    22. Li, Hongbin & Zhou, Li-An, 2005. "Political turnover and economic performance: the incentive role of personnel control in China," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(9-10), pages 1743-1762, September.
    23. Du, Jinfeng & Peiser, Richard B., 2014. "Land supply, pricing and local governments' land hoarding in China," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 180-189.
    24. Hanlon, Michelle & Heitzman, Shane, 2010. "A review of tax research," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 127-178, December.
    25. Wu, Jing & Gyourko, Joseph & Deng, Yongheng, 2015. "Real estate collateral value and investment: The case of China," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 43-53.
    26. Jinyu Yang & Bin Liu & Lihua Yuan, 2017. "Land and resources acquisition, equity investment increase and enterprise overinvestment," Nankai Business Review International, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 8(1), pages 57-79, March.
    27. Chen, Ting & Kung, J.K.-S., 2016. "Do land revenue windfalls create a political resource curse? Evidence from China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 86-106.
    28. Faccio, Mara & Parsley, David C., 2009. "Sudden Deaths: Taking Stock of Geographic Ties," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 44(3), pages 683-718, June.
    29. 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.
    30. Chen, Tao & Lin, Chen, 2017. "Does Information Asymmetry Affect Corporate Tax Aggressiveness?," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 52(5), pages 2053-2081, October.
    31. Wen-Tai Hsu & Xiaolu Li & Yang Tang & Jing Wu, 2017. "Determinants of Urban Land Supply in the People's Republic of China: How Do Political Factors Matter?," Asian Development Review, MIT Press, vol. 34(2), pages 152-183, September.
    32. Jie Gan, 2007. "The Real Effects of Asset Market Bubbles: Loan- and Firm-Level Evidence of a Lending Channel," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 20(6), pages 1941-1973, November.
    33. Lãœ, Xiaobo & Landry, Pierre F., 2014. "Show Me the Money: Interjurisdiction Political Competition and Fiscal Extraction in China," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 108(3), pages 706-722, August.
    34. Chong-En Bai & Jiangyong Lu & Zhigang Tao, 2006. "The Multitask Theory of State Enterprise Reform: Empirical Evidence from China," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(2), pages 353-357, May.
    35. Denis Nitikin & Chunli Shen & Qian Wang & Heng-fu Zou, 2012. "Water Service Delivery Reform in China: Safeguarding the Interests of the Poor," Annals of Economics and Finance, Society for AEF, vol. 13(2), pages 463-487, November.
    36. Jianjun Zhang & Christopher Marquis & Kunyuan Qiao, 2016. "Do Political Connections Buffer Firms from or Bind Firms to the Government? A Study of Corporate Charitable Donations of Chinese Firms," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(5), pages 1307-1324, October.
    37. Bradshaw, Mark & Liao, Guanmin & Ma, Mark (Shuai), 2019. "Agency costs and tax planning when the government is a major Shareholder," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 255-277.
    38. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/75koqefued8i7pihbrl9u84p4u is not listed on IDEAS
    39. Nancy H. Chau & Weiwen Zhang, 2011. "Harnessing the Forces of Urban Expansion: The Public Economics of Farmland Development Allowances," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 87(3), pages 488-507.
    40. Kerwin Kofi Charles & Erik Hurst & Matthew J. Notowidigdo, 2018. "Housing Booms and Busts, Labor Market Opportunities, and College Attendance," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(10), pages 2947-2994, October.
    41. Ando, Michihito & Dahlberg, Matz & Engström, Gustav, 2017. "The risks of nuclear disaster and its impact on housing prices," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 13-16.
    42. Hsu, Wen-Tai & Li, Xiaolu & Tang, Yang & Wu, Jing, 2017. "Determinants of Urban Land Supply in China: How Do Political Factors Matter?," Economics and Statistics Working Papers 7-2017, Singapore Management University, School of Economics.
    43. Fink, Alexander & Stratmann, Thomas, 2015. "U.S. housing prices and the Fukushima nuclear accident," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 309-326.
    44. Jing Wu & Yongheng Deng & Hongyu Liu, 2014. "House Price Index Construction in the Nascent Housing Market: The Case of China," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 48(3), pages 522-545, April.
    45. Yuk‐Shing Cheng & Kim‐Sau Chung, 2018. "Designing Property Rights over Land in Rural China," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 128(615), pages 2676-2710, November.
    46. Bauer, Thomas K. & Braun, Sebastian T. & Kvasnicka, Michael, 2017. "Nuclear power plant closures and local housing values: Evidence from Fukushima and the German housing market," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 94-106.
    47. Wang, Qian & Wong, T.J. & Xia, Lijun, 2008. "State ownership, the institutional environment, and auditor choice: Evidence from China," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 112-134, September.
    48. Sumit Agarwal & Yongheng Deng & Chenxi Luo & Wenlan Qian, 2016. "The Hidden Peril: The Role of the Condo Loan Market in the Recent Financial Crisis," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 20(2), pages 467-500.
    49. 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.
    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. Zhang, Fan & Wu, Guanghao & Zhu, Ling & Zhang, Wenzhe, 2023. "The impact of fiscal squeeze on corporate tax avoidance behaviors: Evidence from the agricultural tax reform," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 890-901.
    2. Jun Du & Xinhui Dai & Bo Yan, 2023. "The Impact of Government Participation in Ecological Championship on Heavily-Polluting Corporate Earnings Management: Evidence from China’s National Civilized City Award," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-27, November.

    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. Gyourko, Joseph & Shen, Yang & Wu, Jing & Zhang, Rongjie, 2022. "Land finance in China: Analysis and review," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    2. Feng Huang & Jie Gao, 2022. "Customer and Tax Avoidance: How Does Customer Geographic Proximity Affect a Supplier’s Tax Avoidance?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-30, November.
    3. Harald Hau & Difei Ouyang, 2019. "Local Capital Scarcity and Small Firm Growth: Evidence from Real Estate Booms in China," CESifo Working Paper Series 7928, CESifo.
    4. 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.
    5. Shen, Yuxin & Xu, Hanwen & Yu, Shuangli & Xu, Wei & Shen, Yongjian, 2022. "Air pollution and tax avoidance: New evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 402-420.
    6. Luo, Jinbo & Ni, Xiaoran & Tian, Gary Gang, 2020. "Short selling and corporate tax avoidance: Insights from a financial constraint view," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    7. Chen, Shenglan & Ma, Hui & Teng, Haimeng & Wu, Qiang, 2022. "Banking liberalization and corporate tax planning: Evidence from natural experiments," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    8. 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.
    9. Guangyong Lei & Wanwan Wang & Junli Yu & Kam C. Chan, 2022. "Cultural Diversity and Corporate Tax Avoidance: Evidence from Chinese Private Enterprises," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 176(2), pages 357-379, March.
    10. Wen, Wen & Cui, Huijie & Ke, Yun, 2020. "Directors with foreign experience and corporate tax avoidance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    11. Li, Xiaoxia & Cai, Guilong & Luo, Danglun, 2020. "GDP distortion and tax avoidance in local SOEs: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 582-598.
    12. Oleksandr Talavera & Shuxing Yin & Mao Zhang, 2022. "Political motives of excess leverage in state-owned firms," Discussion Papers 22-04, Department of Economics, University of Birmingham.
    13. Tao Chen & Chen Lin & Xiang Shao, 2022. "Globalization and U.S. Corporate Tax Policies: Evidence from Import Competition," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(8), pages 6145-6162, August.
    14. Xiang, Junyi & Zhu, Ling & Kong, Dongmin, 2023. "Labor cost and corporate tax avoidance," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 338-358.
    15. 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.
    16. Ding, Haoyuan & Ni, Bei & Xue, Chang & Zhang, Xiaoyu, 2022. "Land holdings and outward foreign direct investment: Evidence from China," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    17. Chang Liu & Wei Xiong, 2018. "China's Real Estate Market," NBER Working Papers 25297, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Chen, Yunsen & Huang, Jianqiao & Xiao, Sheng & Zhao, Ziye, 2020. "The “home bias” of corporate subsidiary locations," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    19. 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.
    20. Chen, Pu & Wang, Chunyang & Liu, Yangyan, 2015. "Real estate prices and firm borrowings: Micro evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 296-308.

    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:inm:ormnsc:v:68:y:2022:i:11:p:8319-8342. 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: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    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.