IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jiaata/v51y2023ics1061951823000228.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Codetermination and aggressive reporting: Audit committee employee representation, tax aggressiveness, and earnings management

Author

Listed:
  • Chyz, James A.
  • Eulerich, Marc
  • Fligge, Benjamin
  • Romney, Miles A.

Abstract

This study uses a unique dataset from listed German companies that helps identify a granular measure of board-level codetermination to examine whether board-level codetermination (inclusion of employee representatives on the board) reduces aggressive financial and tax reporting, i.e., tax aggressiveness and earnings management. To the extent codetermination allows for effective employee monitoring of management, then it should be negatively associated with tax and financial reporting aggressiveness because prior research hypothesizes that employees prefer lower tax aggressiveness and less earnings management. Our analysis also highlights the mechanisms through which employees can monitor and influence firms’ decisions and outcomes. We find employee representation on audit committees is the most consistently influential codetermination mechanism associated with reduced tax aggressiveness and earnings management. We contribute to prior and current discussions of stronger employee rights and influences on management decisions from a board-level perspective.

Suggested Citation

  • Chyz, James A. & Eulerich, Marc & Fligge, Benjamin & Romney, Miles A., 2023. "Codetermination and aggressive reporting: Audit committee employee representation, tax aggressiveness, and earnings management," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jiaata:v:51:y:2023:i:c:s1061951823000228
    DOI: 10.1016/j.intaccaudtax.2023.100543
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1061951823000228
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.intaccaudtax.2023.100543?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. Bergstresser, Daniel & Philippon, Thomas, 2006. "CEO incentives and earnings management," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(3), pages 511-529, June.
    2. Huang, Henry He & Lobo, Gerald J. & Wang, Chong & Xie, Hong, 2016. "Customer concentration and corporate tax avoidance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 184-200.
    3. Crocker, Keith J. & Slemrod, Joel, 2005. "Corporate tax evasion with agency costs," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(9-10), pages 1593-1610, September.
    4. Chi, Jianxin (Daniel) & Gupta, Manu, 2009. "Overvaluation and earnings management," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(9), pages 1652-1663, September.
    5. 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.
    6. Sonja Olhoft Rego & Ryan Wilson, 2012. "Equity Risk Incentives and Corporate Tax Aggressiveness," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(3), pages 775-810, June.
    7. Faleye, Olubunmi & Mehrotra, Vikas & Morck, Randall, 2006. "When Labor Has a Voice in Corporate Governance," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 41(3), pages 489-510, September.
    8. Lawrence J. Abbott & Brian Daugherty & Susan Parker & Gary F. Peters, 2016. "Internal Audit Quality and Financial Reporting Quality: The Joint Importance of Independence and Competence," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(1), pages 3-40, March.
    9. E Han Kim & Ernst Maug & Christoph Schneider, 2018. "Labor Representation in Governance as an Insurance Mechanism," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 22(4), pages 1251-1289.
    10. David A. Matsa, 2010. "Capital Structure as a Strategic Variable: Evidence from Collective Bargaining," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(3), pages 1197-1232, June.
    11. Mihir A Desai & Dhammika Dharmapala, 2009. "Corporate Tax Avoidance and Firm Value," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 91(3), pages 537-546, August.
    12. Chen, Huafeng Jason & Kacperczyk, Marcin & Ortiz-Molina, Hernán, 2011. "Labor Unions, Operating Flexibility, and the Cost of Equity," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 46(1), pages 25-58, February.
    13. Burak Güner, A. & Malmendier, Ulrike & Tate, Geoffrey, 2008. "Financial expertise of directors," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(2), pages 323-354, May.
    14. Dechow, Patricia & Ge, Weili & Schrand, Catherine, 2010. "Understanding earnings quality: A review of the proxies, their determinants and their consequences," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 344-401, December.
    15. Minnick, Kristina & Noga, Tracy, 2010. "Do corporate governance characteristics influence tax management?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 16(5), pages 703-718, December.
    16. Douglas Staiger & James H. Stock, 1997. "Instrumental Variables Regression with Weak Instruments," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 65(3), pages 557-586, May.
    17. Gorton, Gary & Schmid, Frank A., 2000. "Universal banking and the performance of German firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(1-2), pages 29-80.
    18. Jones, Jj, 1991. "Earnings Management During Import Relief Investigations," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 193-228.
    19. Ashwini K. Agrawal, 2012. "Corporate Governance Objectives of Labor Union Shareholders: Evidence from Proxy Voting," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 25(1), pages 187-226.
    20. Francesco Bova, 2013. "Labor Unions and Management’s Incentive to Signal a Negative Outlook," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(1), pages 14-41, March.
    21. Hanlon, Michelle & Heitzman, Shane, 2010. "A review of tax research," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 127-178, December.
    22. repec:eme:maj000:maj-12-2018-2109 is not listed on IDEAS
    23. 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.
    24. Knockaert, Mirjam & Bjornali, Ekaterina S. & Erikson, Truls, 2015. "Joining forces: Top management team and board chair characteristics as antecedents of board service involvement," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 420-435.
    25. 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.
    26. Cohen, Daniel A. & Zarowin, Paul, 2010. "Accrual-based and real earnings management activities around seasoned equity offerings," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 2-19, May.
    27. Sophia J. W. Hamm & Boochun Jung & Woo‐Jong Lee, 2018. "Labor Unions and Income Smoothing," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 35(3), pages 1201-1228, September.
    28. Christine Blandhol & Magne Mogstad & Peter Nilsson & Ola L. Vestad, 2020. "Do Employees Benefit from Worker Representation on Corporate Boards?," NBER Working Papers 28269, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    29. Hae-Ryong Kim & Moonkyu Lee & Hyoung-Tark Lee & Na-Min Kim, 2010. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Employee–Company Identification," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 95(4), pages 557-569, September.
    30. Liu, Qiao & Lu, Zhou (Joe), 2007. "Corporate governance and earnings management in the Chinese listed companies: A tunneling perspective," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 13(5), pages 881-906, December.
    31. Kirchler, Erich, 1997. "The burden of new taxes: acceptance of taxes as a function of affectedness and egoistic versus altruistic orientation," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 421-437.
    32. Xie, Biao & Davidson, Wallace III & DaDalt, Peter J., 2003. "Earnings management and corporate governance: the role of the board and the audit committee," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 295-316, June.
    33. Balsmeier, Benjamin & Bermig, Andreas & Dilger, Alexander, 2013. "Corporate governance and employee power in the boardroom: An applied game theoretic analysis," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 51-74.
    34. Fauver, Larry & Fuerst, Michael E., 2006. "Does good corporate governance include employee representation? Evidence from German corporate boards," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(3), pages 673-710, December.
    35. Jennifer Blouin, 2014. "Defining and Measuring Tax Planning Aggressiveness," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 67(4), pages 875-900, December.
    36. Minton, Bernadette A. & Taillard, Jérôme P. & Williamson, Rohan, 2014. "Financial Expertise of the Board, Risk Taking, and Performance: Evidence from Bank Holding Companies," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 49(2), pages 351-380, April.
    37. Cristi A. Gleason & Sascha Kieback & Martin Thomsen & Christoph Watrin, 2021. "Monitoring or payroll maximization? What happens when workers enter the boardroom?," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 1046-1087, September.
    38. Aikaterini C. Ferentinou & Seraina C. Anagnostopoulou, 2016. "Accrual-based and real earnings management before and after IFRS adoption," Journal of Applied Accounting Research, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 17(1), pages 2-23, February.
    39. Ann-Kristin Achleitner & Nina G�nther & Christoph Kaserer & Gianfranco Siciliano, 2014. "Real Earnings Management and Accrual-based Earnings Management in Family Firms," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(3), pages 431-461, September.
    40. Roychowdhury, Sugata, 2006. "Earnings management through real activities manipulation," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 335-370, December.
    41. Scholz, Robert & Vitols, Sigurt, 2019. "Board-level codetermination: A driving force for corporate social responsibility in German companies?," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 25(3), pages 233-246.
    42. Andrew K. Prevost & Ramesh P. Rao & Melissa A. Williams, 2012. "Labor Unions as Shareholder Activists: Champions or Detractors?," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 47(2), pages 327-349, May.
    43. Ajay Palvia & Emilia Vähämaa & Sami Vähämaa, 2015. "Are Female CEOs and Chairwomen More Conservative and Risk Averse? Evidence from the Banking Industry During the Financial Crisis," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 131(3), pages 577-594, October.
    44. Klasa, Sandy & Maxwell, William F. & Ortiz-Molina, Hernán, 2009. "The strategic use of corporate cash holdings in collective bargaining with labor unions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(3), pages 421-442, June.
    45. Manon Deslandes & Anne Fortin & Suzanne Landry, 2020. "Audit committee characteristics and tax aggressiveness," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 35(2), pages 272-293, January.
    46. Daniel Bradley & Incheol Kim & Xuan Tian, 2017. "Do Unions Affect Innovation?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(7), pages 2251-2271, July.
    47. Benjamin P. Commerford & Dana R. Hermanson & Richard W. Houston & Michael F. Peters, 2019. "Auditor Sensitivity to Real Earnings Management: The Importance of Ambiguity and Earnings Context," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 36(2), pages 1055-1076, June.
    48. McNichols, Maureen F., 2000. "Research design issues in earnings management studies," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 19(4-5), pages 313-345.
    49. 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.
    50. Armstrong, Christopher S. & Blouin, Jennifer L. & Jagolinzer, Alan D. & Larcker, David F., 2015. "Corporate Governance, Incentives, and Tax Avoidance," Research Papers 2134, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    51. Stefan Petry, 2018. "Mandatory Worker Representation on the Board and Its Effect on Shareholder Wealth," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 47(1), pages 25-54, March.
    52. Caramanis, Constantinos & Lennox, Clive, 2008. "Audit effort and earnings management," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 116-138, March.
    53. 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.
    54. Michael C. Jensen, 2005. "Agency Costs of Overvalued Equity," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 34(1), Spring.
    55. Ryan Davidson & Jenny Goodwin‐Stewart & Pamela Kent, 2005. "Internal governance structures and earnings management," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 45(2), pages 241-267, July.
    56. Call, Andrew C. & Campbell, John L. & Dhaliwal, Dan S. & Moon, James R., 2017. "Employee quality and financial reporting outcomes," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 123-149.
    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. Cristi A. Gleason & Sascha Kieback & Martin Thomsen & Christoph Watrin, 2021. "Monitoring or payroll maximization? What happens when workers enter the boardroom?," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 1046-1087, September.
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. Chantziaras, Antonios & Dedoulis, Emmanouil & Leventis, Stergios, 2020. "The impact of labor unionization on monitoring costs," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 288-307.
    5. Nguyet T. M. Nguyen & Abdullah Iqbal & Radha K. Shiwakoti, 2022. "The context of earnings management and its ability to predict future stock returns," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 59(1), pages 123-169, July.
    6. Wen, Wen & Cui, Huijie & Ke, Yun, 2020. "Directors with foreign experience and corporate tax avoidance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    7. Francisco J. Delgado & Elena Fernández-Rodríguez & Roberto García-Fernández & Manuel Landajo & Antonio Martínez-Arias, 2023. "Tax avoidance and earnings management: a neural network approach for the largest European economies," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 9(1), pages 1-25, December.
    8. Kim, Jeong-Bon & Zhang, Eliza Xia & Zhong, Kai, 2021. "Does unionization affect the manager–shareholder conflict? Evidence from firm-specific stock price crash risk," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    9. Onur Bayar & Fariz Huseynov & Sabuhi Sardarli, 2018. "Corporate Governance, Tax Avoidance, and Financial Constraints," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 47(3), pages 651-677, September.
    10. Ormazabal, Gaizka, 2018. "The Role of Stakeholders in Corporate Governance: A View from Accounting Research," CEPR Discussion Papers 12775, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    11. (DJ) Fairhurst, Douglas & Liu, Yanguang & Ni, Xiaoran, 2020. "Employment protection and tax aggressiveness: Evidence from wrongful discharge laws," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    12. Sami Adwan & Alaa Alhaj-Ismail & Ranko Jelic, 2022. "Non-executive employee ownership and financial reporting quality: evidence from Europe," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 59(2), pages 793-823, August.
    13. Chang, Kiyoung & Kim, Young Sang & Li, Ying & Park, Jong Chool, 2022. "Labor unions and real earnings management," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    14. A. Hong, Hyun & Lobo, Gerald J. & Ryou, Ji Woo, 2019. "Financial market development and firm investment in tax avoidance: Evidence from credit default swap market," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 1-1.
    15. Shams, Syed & Bose, Sudipta & Gunasekarage, Abeyratna, 2022. "Does corporate tax avoidance promote managerial empire building?," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(1).
    16. Behnam Karamshahi & Zeinab Azami & Tabandeh Salehi, 2018. "The association between competition power in markets and tax avoidance: evidence from Tehran stock exchange," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 8(3), pages 323-339, September.
    17. Özgür Arslan‐Ayaydin & James Thewissen & Wouter Torsin, 2021. "Disclosure tone management and labor unions," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1-2), pages 102-147, January.
    18. Muhammad Kaleem Khan & Yixuan Qin & Chengsi Zhang, 2022. "Financial structure and earnings manipulation activities in China," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(8), pages 2593-2621, August.
    19. Gul, Ferdinand A. & Khedmati, Mehdi & Shams, Syed M.M., 2020. "Managerial acquisitiveness and corporate tax avoidance," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    20. Huang, Wei & Goodell, John W. & Zhang, Hong, 2019. "Pre-merger management in developing markets: The role of earnings glamor," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).

    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:51:y:2023:i:c:s1061951823000228. 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.