IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/corsem/v26y2019i4p819-831.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does corporate social responsibility affect tax avoidance: Evidence from family firms

Author

Listed:
  • Eva López‐González
  • Jennifer Martínez‐Ferrero
  • Emma García‐Meca

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the effect of corporate social responsibility performance on tax avoidance. It also examines whether family ownership affects tax avoidance practices by socially responsible performance. Based on an international sample of 6,442 firm‐year observations from 2006 to 2014, we use several panel‐data regression models. We find that social and environmental performance is negatively related with tax avoidance so that firms with a greater socially responsible performance show a lower tax‐saving practices. However, we find that this negative relation is lower in family‐owned firms, what suggests that despite the fact that family firms show a greater socially responsible behavior aimed to preserve their socioemotional endowments, family ownership is positively associated with tax avoidance practices.

Suggested Citation

  • Eva López‐González & Jennifer Martínez‐Ferrero & Emma García‐Meca, 2019. "Does corporate social responsibility affect tax avoidance: Evidence from family firms," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(4), pages 819-831, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:corsem:v:26:y:2019:i:4:p:819-831
    DOI: 10.1002/csr.1723
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1723
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/csr.1723?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. Safa Gaaya & Nadia Lakhal & Faten Lakhal, 2017. "Does family ownership reduce corporate tax avoidance? The moderating effect of audit quality," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 32(7), pages 731-744, August.
    2. 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.
    3. Luis Gomez-Mejia & Cristina Cruz & Claudia Imperatore, 2014. "Financial Reporting and the Protection of Socioemotional Wealth in Family-Controlled Firms," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(3), pages 387-402, September.
    4. Faten Lakhal & Safa Gaaya & Nadia Lakhal, 2017. "Does family ownership reduce corporate tax avoidance? The moderating effect of audit quality," Post-Print hal-01686420, HAL.
    5. Joern H. Block & Marcus Wagner, 2014. "The Effect of Family Ownership on Different Dimensions of Corporate Social Responsibility: Evidence from Large US Firms," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(7), pages 475-492, November.
    6. Desai, Mihir A. & Dyck, Alexander & Zingales, Luigi, 2007. "Theft and taxes," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(3), pages 591-623, June.
    7. 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.
    8. Prem Sikka, 2010. "Smoke and mirrors: Corporate social responsibility and tax avoidance," Accounting Forum, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(3-4), pages 153-168, September.
    9. Safa Gaaya & Nadia Lakhal & Faten Lakhal, 2017. "Does family ownership reduce corporate tax avoidance? The moderating effect of audit quality," Post-Print hal-03562617, HAL.
    10. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    11. Donald C. Hambrick & Sydney Finkelstein, 1995. "The effects of ownership structure on conditions at the top: The case of CEO pay raises," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(3), pages 175-193.
    12. James S. Ang & Rebel A. Cole & James Wuh Lin, 2000. "Agency Costs and Ownership Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(1), pages 81-106, February.
    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. Le Breton-Miller, Isabelle & Miller, Danny & Bares, Franck, 2015. "Governance and entrepreneurship in family firms: Agency, behavioral agency and resource-based comparisons," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 58-62.
    15. Steijvers, Tensie & Niskanen, Mervi, 2014. "Tax aggressiveness in private family firms: An agency perspective," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 5(4), pages 347-357.
    16. Shuping Chen & Xia Chen & Qiang Cheng, 2008. "Do Family Firms Provide More or Less Voluntary Disclosure?," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(3), pages 499-536, June.
    17. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez‐De‐Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 1999. "Corporate Ownership Around the World," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(2), pages 471-517, April.
    18. 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.
    19. Moore, Jared A. & Suh, SangHyun & Werner, Edward M., 2017. "Dual entrenchment and tax management: Classified boards and family firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 161-172.
    20. El Ghoul, Sadok & Guedhami, Omrane & Kwok, Chuck C.Y. & Mishra, Dev R., 2011. "Does corporate social responsibility affect the cost of capital?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(9), pages 2388-2406, September.
    21. Issam Laguir & Raffaele Staglianò & Jamal Elbaz, 2015. "Does corporate social responsibility affect corporate tax aggressiveness?," Post-Print hal-02053812, HAL.
    22. Fama, Eugene F & Jensen, Michael C, 1983. "Separation of Ownership and Control," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(2), pages 301-325, June.
    23. Harvey James, 1999. "Owner as Manager, Extended Horizons and the Family Firm," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(1), pages 41-55.
    24. Hongquan Chen & Saixing Zeng & Han Lin & Hanyang Ma, 2017. "Munificence, Dynamism, and Complexity: How Industry Context Drives Corporate Sustainability," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 125-141, February.
    25. Jennifer Martínez-Ferrero & Shantanu Banerjee & Isabel María García-Sánchez, 2016. "Corporate Social Responsibility as a Strategic Shield Against Costs of Earnings Management Practices," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 133(2), pages 305-324, January.
    26. David L. Deephouse & Suzanne M. Carter, 2005. "An Examination of Differences Between Organizational Legitimacy and Organizational Reputation," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(2), pages 329-360, March.
    27. Charles W. L. Hill & Thomas M. Jones, 1992. "Stakeholder‐Agency Theory," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 131-154, March.
    28. Cristina Cruz & Martin Larraza–Kintana & Lucía Garcés–Galdeano & Pascual Berrone, 2014. "Are Family Firms Really More Socially Responsible?," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 38(6), pages 1295-1316, November.
    29. Huseynov, Fariz & Klamm, Bonnie K., 2012. "Tax avoidance, tax management and corporate social responsibility," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 804-827.
    30. Badertscher, Brad A. & Katz, Sharon P. & Rego, Sonja O., 2013. "The separation of ownership and control and corporate tax avoidance," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 228-250.
    31. Mojca Duh & Polona Tominc & Miroslav Rebernik, 2009. "The Importance of Family Enterprises in Transition Economies," Eastern European Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(6), pages 22-42, November.
    32. Ronald C. Anderson & David M. Reeb, 2003. "Founding-Family Ownership and Firm Performance: Evidence from the S&P 500," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(3), pages 1301-1327, June.
    33. Randoy, Trond & Goel, Sanjay, 2003. "Ownership structure, founder leadership, and performance in Norwegian SMEs: implications for financing entrepreneurial opportunities," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 619-637, September.
    34. Luis R. Gomez‐Mejia & Marianna Makri & Martin Larraza Kintana, 2010. "Diversification Decisions in Family‐Controlled Firms," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(2), pages 223-252, March.
    35. Gérard Hirigoyen & Thierry Poulain-Rehm, 2014. "The Corporate Social Responsibility of Family Businesses: An International Approach," Post-Print hal-01382070, HAL.
    36. Miller, Danny & Le Breton-Miller, Isabelle & Lester, Richard H. & Cannella Jr., Albert A., 2007. "Are family firms really superior performers?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 13(5), pages 829-858, December.
    37. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    38. Gérard Hirigoyen & Thierry Poulain-Rehm, 2014. "The Corporate Social Responsibility of Family Businesses: An International Approach," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 2(3), pages 1-26, July.
    39. Ronald C. Anderson & David M. Reeb, 2003. "Founding‐Family Ownership and Firm Performance: Evidence from the S&P 500," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(3), pages 1301-1328, June.
    40. Bradley S. Blaylock, 2016. "Is Tax Avoidance Associated with Economically Significant Rent Extraction among U.S. Firms?," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 33(3), pages 1013-1043, September.
    41. John R. Graham, 2003. "Taxes and Corporate Finance: A Review," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 16(4), pages 1075-1129.
    42. Chris Mason & John Simmons, 2014. "Embedding Corporate Social Responsibility in Corporate Governance: A Stakeholder Systems Approach," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 119(1), pages 77-86, January.
    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. Patrizia Gazzola & Audrey Paterson & Stefano Amelio & Daniele Grechi & Stefano Cristina, 2023. "The role of individual social responsibility and corporate social responsibility in the tax fraud war: A comparison between the priorities of Italian and Romanian consumers," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(5), pages 2265-2277, September.
    2. García-Meca, Emma & Ramón-Llorens, Maria-Camino & Martínez-Ferrero, Jennifer, 2021. "Are narcissistic CEOs more tax aggressive? The moderating role of internal audit committees," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 223-235.
    3. Andrea Venturelli & Salvatore Principale & Lorenzo Ligorio & Simona Cosma, 2021. "Walking the talk in family firms. An empirical investigation of CSR communication and practices," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(1), pages 497-510, January.
    4. Luca Gandullia & Stefano Piserà, 2020. "Do income taxes affect corporate social responsibility? Evidence from European‐listed companies," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(2), pages 1017-1027, March.
    5. Tânia Menezes Montenegro, 2021. "Tax Evasion, Corporate Social Responsibility and National Governance: A Country-Level Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-19, October.
    6. Chaiyot Sumritsakun, 2022. "The Relationship between Sustainable Management and Earning Management of Thai Listed Firms in SET100 Index ," GATR Journals jfbr196, Global Academy of Training and Research (GATR) Enterprise.
    7. Lenka Veselovská & Ján Závadský & Zuzana Závadská, 2020. "Mitigating bribery risks to strengthen the corporate social responsibility in accordance with the ISO 37001," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(4), pages 1972-1988, July.
    8. Sana Noor & Abubakr Saeed & Muhammad Saad Baloch & Muhammad Awais, 2020. "CSR permanency, family ownership, and firm value: Evidence from emerging economies," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(5), pages 2135-2149, September.

    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. 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.
    2. Kovermann, Jost & Wendt, Martin, 2019. "Tax avoidance in family firms: Evidence from large private firms," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 145-157.
    3. Sabri Boubaker & Imen Derouiche & Hung Nguyen, 2022. "Voluntary disclosure, tax avoidance and family firms," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 26(1), pages 129-158, March.
    4. Audretsch, David B. & Hülsbeck, Marcel & Lehmann, Erik E., 2010. "The benefits of family ownership, control and management on financial performance of firms," UO Working Papers 05-10, University of Augsburg, Chair of Management and Organization.
    5. Moore, Jared A. & Suh, SangHyun & Werner, Edward M., 2017. "Dual entrenchment and tax management: Classified boards and family firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 161-172.
    6. Gopal Krishnan & Marietta Peytcheva, 2019. "The Risk of Fraud in Family Firms: Assessments of External Auditors," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 157(1), pages 261-278, June.
    7. Audretsch, David B. & Hülsbeck, Marcel & Lehmann, Erik E., 2013. "Families as active monitors of firm performance," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 4(2), pages 118-130.
    8. Adhikari, Hari P. & Sutton, Ninon K., 2016. "All in the family: The effect of family ownership on acquisition performance," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 65-78.
    9. Minghui Yang & Yan Wang & Lu Bai & Petra Maresova, 2023. "Corporate social responsibility, family involvement, and stock price crash risk," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(3), pages 1204-1225, May.
    10. Claudia Arena & Giovanna Michelon, 2018. "A matter of control or identity? Family firms' environmental reporting decisions along the corporate life cycle," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1596-1608, December.
    11. Martina Sageder & Christine Mitter & Birgit Feldbauer‐Durstmüller, 2018. "Image and reputation of family firms: a systematic literature review of the state of research," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 335-377, January.
    12. Paolo Roffia & Virginia Simón-Moya & Javier Sendra García, 2022. "Board of director attributes: effects on financial performance in SMEs," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 1141-1172, September.
    13. Chou, Shu-Ching & Shih, Chia-Jung, 2020. "Like father, like son? Diversification decision and related performance of family firm successors – Evidence from Taiwan," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 209-220.
    14. Abdelfattah, Tarek & Aboud, Ahmed, 2020. "Tax avoidance, corporate governance, and corporate social responsibility: The case of the Egyptian capital market," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 38(C).
    15. González, Maximiliano & Guzmán, Alexander & Pombo, Carlos & Trujillo, María-Andrea, 2012. "Family firms and financial performance: The cost of growing," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 626-649.
    16. Engel, Pascal J. & Hack, Andreas & Kellermanns, Franz W., 2015. "Setting the right mix—Analyzing outside directors’ pay mix in public family firms," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 6(2), pages 130-140.
    17. Marcin Borsuk & Nicolas Eugster & Paul-Olivier Klein & Oskar Kowalewski, 2023. "Family Ownership and Carbon Emissions," Working Papers 2023-ACF-01, IESEG School of Management.
    18. Andres, Christian, 2008. "Large shareholders and firm performance--An empirical examination of founding-family ownership," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 14(4), pages 431-445, September.
    19. Jiang, Fuxiu & Cai, Xinni & Nofsinger, John R. & Zheng, Xiaojia, 2020. "Can reputation concern restrain bad news hoarding in family firms?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    20. Stavros E. Arvanitis & Theodoros V. Stamatopoulos & Dimitris Terzakis, 2018. "Is There a Non-linear Relationship of Market Value with Cash and Ownership?," SPOUDAI Journal of Economics and Business, SPOUDAI Journal of Economics and Business, University of Piraeus, vol. 68(1), pages 3-25, January-M.

    More about this item

    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:wly:corsem:v:26:y:2019:i:4:p:819-831. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1002/(ISSN)1535-3966 .

    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.