IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolet/v247y2025ics0165176524005780.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

To the best of both worlds: Firm's nationalism and corporate tax

Author

Listed:
  • Wang, Zhi
  • Li, Shiyuan

Abstract

With the increasing uncertainty and instability on the international landscape, nationalism is reawakening over the world. Using the listed firms from 2009 to 2019 in China as the sample, this study investigates the relation between firm-level nationalism and tax outcomes and provides robust evidence that pro-nation firms (expressing greater nationalistic sentiments) would bear less tax burden. The tax alleviation mainly comes from the reciprocal favor accorded by tax authorities for nationalism endorsed by firms. Our study evaluates the tax implications of firms’ nationalism and highlights the essentiality of social factors in business management.

Suggested Citation

  • Wang, Zhi & Li, Shiyuan, 2025. "To the best of both worlds: Firm's nationalism and corporate tax," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 247(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:247:y:2025:i:c:s0165176524005780
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2024.112094
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165176524005780
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.econlet.2024.112094?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. Campello, Murillo & Graham, John R. & Harvey, Campbell R., 2010. "The real effects of financial constraints: Evidence from a financial crisis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(3), pages 470-487, September.
    2. Leonie Huddy & Nadia Khatib, 2007. "American Patriotism, National Identity, and Political Involvement," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 51(1), pages 63-77, January.
    3. Italo Colantone & Piero Stanig, 2019. "The Surge of Economic Nationalism in Western Europe," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 33(4), pages 128-151, Fall.
    4. Serhan Cevik & Fedor Miryugin, 2022. "Death and taxes: Does taxation matter for firm survival?," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(1), pages 92-112, March.
    5. Hites Ahir & Nicholas Bloom & Davide Furceri, 2022. "The world uncertainty index," POID Working Papers 031, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    6. Allingham, Michael G. & Sandmo, Agnar, 1972. "Income tax evasion: a theoretical analysis," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 1(3-4), pages 323-338, November.
    7. Timothy Besley & Torsten Persson, 2014. "Why Do Developing Countries Tax So Little?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 28(4), pages 99-120, Fall.
    8. Yue, Lori Qingyuan & Zheng, Jiexin & Mao, Kaixian, 2024. "Firms’ Rhetorical Nationalism: Theory, Measurement, and Evidence from a Computational Analysis of Chinese Public Firms," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(2), pages 161-203, April.
    9. Mark C. Anderson & Rajiv D. Banker & Surya N. Janakiraman, 2003. "Are Selling, General, and Administrative Costs “Sticky”?," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(1), pages 47-63, March.
    10. Ahlerup, Pelle & Hansson, Gustav, 2011. "Nationalism and government effectiveness," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 431-451, September.
    11. Alexander Mohr & Christian Schumacher, 2019. "The Contingent Effect of Patriotic Rhetoric on Firm Performance," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 4(2), pages 94-110, June.
    12. Liu, Baixiao & McConnell, John J., 2013. "The role of the media in corporate governance: Do the media influence managers' capital allocation decisions?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(1), pages 1-17.
    13. Paul J. Irvine & Jeffrey Pontiff, 2009. "Idiosyncratic Return Volatility, Cash Flows, and Product Market Competition," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(3), pages 1149-1177, March.
    14. Paul J. Irvine & Jeffrey Pontiff, 2009. "Idiosyncratic Return Volatility, Cash Flows, and Product Market Competition," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(3), pages 1149-1177.
    15. Daniel Levy, 2018. "Risk and the cosmopolitanization of solidarities," Journal of Risk Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(1), pages 56-67, January.
    16. Allen, Arthur & Francis, Bill B. & Wu, Qiang & Zhao, Yijiang, 2016. "Analyst coverage and corporate tax aggressiveness," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 84-98.
    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. Gyimah, Daniel & Siganos, Antonios & Veld, Chris, 2021. "Effects of financial constraints and product market competition on share repurchases," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    2. Li, Tongxia & Ang, Tze Chuan ‘Chewie’ & Lu, Chun, 2023. "Employment protection and the provision of trade credit," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    3. Xede, James & Simon Peter Dak-Adzaklo, Cephas & Ofosu, Emmanuel & Wise Dodzidenu Adza, Solomon, 2023. "Competition laws, external financing and investment," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    4. Mikael C. Bergbrant & Delroy M. Hunter & Patrick J. Kelly, 2015. "Product Market Competition, Capital Constraints and Firm Growth," Working Papers w0215, Center for Economic and Financial Research (CEFIR).
    5. Gryglewicz, Sebastian, 2011. "A theory of corporate financial decisions with liquidity and solvency concerns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(2), pages 365-384, February.
    6. Langzi Chen & Zhihong Chen & Jian Li, 2019. "Can Trade Credit Maintain Sustainable R&D Investment of SMEs?—Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-16, February.
    7. Bergbrant, Mikael C. & Hunter, Delroy M. & Kelly, Patrick J., 2018. "Rivals’ competitive activities, capital constraints, and firm growth," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 87-108.
    8. Habib, Ahsan & Hasan, Mostafa Monzur, 2019. "Corporate life cycle research in accounting, finance and corporate governance: A survey, and directions for future research," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 188-201.
    9. Hasan, Iftekhar & Shen, Yi & Yuan, Xiaojing, 2021. "Local product market competition and bank loans," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    10. Marjit, Sugata & Mukherjee, Arijit & Xu, Xinpeng & Yang, Lei, 2025. "Finance and collusion in oligopolistic markets," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    11. Ammar Hussain & Minhas Akbar & Muhammad Kaleem Khan & Ahsan Akbar & Mirela Panait & Marian Catalin Voica, 2020. "When Does Earnings Management Matter? Evidence across the Corporate Life Cycle for Non-Financial Chinese Listed Companies," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-19, December.
    12. Chue, Timothy K. & Gul, Ferdinand A. & Mian, G. Mujtaba, 2019. "Aggregate investor sentiment and stock return synchronicity," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    13. Lin, Ling & Xiao, Min & Yao, Rongrong & Zhang, Xiaoying, 2024. "Product market liberalization and corporate cash holdings: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    14. Zaheer Anwer & Shamsher Mohamad & Wajahat Azmi & Akram Shavkatovich Hasanov, 2022. "Product market fluidity and religious constraints: evidence from the US market," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(S1), pages 1761-1817, April.
    15. Sudip Datta & Mai Iskandar‐Datta & Vivek Singh, 2014. "Opaque financial reports and R2: Revisited," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(1), pages 10-17, January.
    16. Henrik Jacobsen Kleven & Claus Thustrup Kreiner & Emmanuel Saez, 2016. "Why Can Modern Governments Tax So Much? An Agency Model of Firms as Fiscal Intermediaries," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 83(330), pages 219-246, April.
    17. Jubinski, Daniel & Tomljanovich, Marc, 2013. "Do FOMC minutes matter to markets? An intraday analysis of FOMC minutes releases on individual equity volatility and returns," Review of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 86-97.
    18. Naji Mohammad Alshammasi & Adel Abdulkarim Almomen, 2022. "Innovation Output and Idiosyncratic Volatility: US Evidence," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-17, December.
    19. Patrick J. Kelly, 2014. "Information Efficiency and Firm-Specific Return Variation," Quarterly Journal of Finance (QJF), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 4(04), pages 1-44.
    20. Bing Wang & Kung‐Cheng Ho & Xinyu Liu & Yan Gu, 2022. "Industry cash flow volatility and stock price crash risk," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(2), pages 356-371, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Firms’ nationalism; Corporate tax; China;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • M14 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Corporate Culture; Diversity; Social Responsibility
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

    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:ecolet:v:247:y:2025:i:c:s0165176524005780. 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/ecolet .

    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.