IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/fst/rfsisf/v10y2025i18p30-60.html

Financial Transparency and Tax Avoidance Risks for Manufacturing Companies: A Stock Market Analysis of Tax Compliance in Romania

Author

Listed:
  • Adrian Bojan

    (Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania)

  • Monica Violeta Achim

    (Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania)

Abstract

This study explores the phenomenon of tax avoidance and earnings management whereby companies intentionally adjust their financial reporting to minimize tax liabilities. An applied analysis of the financial performance of 60 companies listed on the Romanian Stock Exchange, using data collected from the balance sheet, profit and loss statement and cash flow statement over a two-year period. The research sheds light on the mechanisms through which companies resort to earnings management practices to disguise real revenues and reduce tax liabilities, thus affecting reporting transparency. The results provide a valuable framework for investors in which the manufacturing sector is emphasized, as the effects indicate a reduction in confidence and increased volatility in financial performance. These survey findings are relevant for investors as they highlight the risks associated with investing in companies that adopt such practices. The analysis also provides important insights into the identification of companies with high tax compliance, which is essential for the design of long-term stakeholder decisions. The paper emphasizes the need to improve tax and accounting regulations to reduce the risks of tax avoidance in the Romanian stock market environment.

Suggested Citation

  • Adrian Bojan & Monica Violeta Achim, 2025. "Financial Transparency and Tax Avoidance Risks for Manufacturing Companies: A Stock Market Analysis of Tax Compliance in Romania," Journal of Financial Studies, Institute of Financial Studies, vol. 10(18), pages 30-60, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:fst:rfsisf:v:10:y:2025:i:18:p:30-60
    DOI: 10.55654/JFS.2025.10.18.02
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://revista.isfin.ro/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2.-Bojan-A.-et.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://revista.isfin.ro/2025/01/09/financial-transparency-and-tax-avoidance-risks-for-manufacturing-companies-a-stock-market-analysis-of-tax-compliance-in-romania/
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.55654/JFS.2025.10.18.02?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. Dechow, Patricia M. & Sloan, Richard G., 1991. "Executive incentives and the horizon problem : An empirical investigation," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 51-89, March.
    3. Ahmed Yamen & Ali Coskun & Hounaida Mersni, 2023. "Digitalization and tax evasion: the moderation effect of corruption," Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(2), pages 2142634-214, July.
    4. 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.
    5. Karampinis, Nikolaos & Vlismas, Orestes & Ballas, Apostolos, 2024. "Business strategy, earnings properties, and earnings quality," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    6. Yan, Huanmin & Liu, Zhenyu & Wang, Haoyu & Zhang, Xuehua & Zheng, Xilei, 2022. "How does the COVID-19 affect earnings management: Empirical evidence from China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    7. Athira, A. & Ramesh, Vishnu K., 2023. "COVID-19 and corporate tax avoidance: International evidence," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(4).
    8. Ana Isabel Martins Ribeiro & António Cerqueira & Elísio Brandão, 2015. "The Determinants of Effective Tax Rates: Firms’ Characteristics and Corporate Governance," FEP Working Papers 567, Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia do Porto.
    9. Daniel A. Bens & Venky Nagar & M. H. Franco Wong, 2002. "Real Investment Implications of Employee Stock Option Exercises," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(2), pages 359-393, May.
    10. Ecker, Frank & Francis, Jennifer & Olsson, Per & Schipper, Katherine, 2013. "Estimation sample selection for discretionary accruals models," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 190-211.
    11. Seraina C. Anagnostopoulou & Andrianos E. Tsekrekos, 2017. "The effect of financial leverage on real and accrual-based earnings management," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(2), pages 191-236, February.
    12. Leandro Medina & Mr. Friedrich Schneider, 2018. "Shadow Economies Around the World: What Did We Learn Over the Last 20 Years?," IMF Working Papers 2018/017, International Monetary Fund.
    13. Dichev, Ilia D. & Graham, John R. & Harvey, Campbell R. & Rajgopal, Shiva, 2013. "Earnings quality: Evidence from the field," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 1-33.
    14. Clive Lennox & Petro Lisowsky & Jeffrey Pittman, 2013. "Tax Aggressiveness and Accounting Fraud," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 51(4), pages 739-778, September.
    15. 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.
    16. Slemrod, Joel, 2004. "The Economics of Corporate Tax Selfishness," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 57(4), pages 877-899, December.
    17. Immordino, Giovanni & Russo, Francesco Flaviano, 2018. "Cashless payments and tax evasion," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 36-43.
    18. T Ruddy & G K Everingham, 2008. "Creative accounting, accounting errors, and the ability of users to detect and adjust for them," South African Journal of Accounting Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(1), pages 45-95, January.
    19. Zhu, Jun & Ho, Kung-Cheng & Luo, Sijia & Peng, Langchuan, 2023. "Pandemic and tax avoidance: Cross-country evidence," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    20. Shalaghya Sharma & Amit Kumar, 2024. "Preparing for the Future in the Shadow of the Pandemic—The Goat Trust Emerges Digitally," Asian Journal of Management Cases, , vol. 21(2), pages 193-200, September.
    21. Jacob, John & Jorgensen, Bjorn N., 2007. "Earnings management and accounting income aggregation," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(2-3), pages 369-390, July.
    22. Christian Leuz & Peter D. Wysocki, 2016. "The Economics of Disclosure and Financial Reporting Regulation: Evidence and Suggestions for Future Research," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 54(2), pages 525-622, May.
    23. Sameh Kobbi-Fakhfakh & Fatma Bougacha, 2023. "The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on corporate tax avoidance: evidence from S&P 500 firms," Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 21(4), pages 847-866, January.
    24. Isabella Lucut Capras & Monica Violeta Achim & Eugenia Ramona Mara, 2024. "Is tax avoidance one of the purposes of financial data manipulation? The case of Romania," Journal of Risk Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 25(4), pages 588-601, April.
    25. Joanna Lizińska & Leszek Czapiewski, 2023. "Earnings Management amid the COVID-19 Financial Crisis: The Experience of Poland," Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, issue 1, pages 93-112.
    26. Richardson, Grant & Wang, Bei & Zhang, Xinmin, 2016. "Ownership structure and corporate tax avoidance: Evidence from publicly listed private firms in China," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(2), pages 141-158.
    27. Ahn, Sungyoon & Choi, Wooseok, 2009. "The role of bank monitoring in corporate governance: Evidence from borrowers' earnings management behavior," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 425-434, February.
    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. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. Wang, Zhenjie & Yang, Yi & Zhang, Jiewei, 2024. "Are female directors more inclined to avoid risks?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    5. 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.
    6. 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).
    7. Athira, A. & Ramesh, Vishnu K., 2023. "COVID-19 and corporate tax avoidance: International evidence," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(4).
    8. 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.
    9. Tang, Mengxuan & Hu, Yang & Hou, Yang (Greg) & Oxley, Les & Goodell, John W., 2025. "Fintech development, corporate tax avoidance and firm value," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    10. Hui Liang James, 2020. "CEO age and tax planning," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 38(2), pages 275-299, April.
    11. Francis, Bill B. & Hasan, Iftekhar & Sun, Xian & Wu, Qiang, 2016. "CEO political preference and corporate tax sheltering," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 37-53.
    12. Asiri, Mohammed & Al-Hadi, Ahmed & Taylor, Grantley & Duong, Lien, 2020. "Is corporate tax avoidance associated with investment efficiency?," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    13. Akhtar, Shumi & Akhtar, Farida & John, Kose & Wong, Su-Wen, 2019. "Multinationals' tax evasion: A financial and governance perspective," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 35-62.
    14. Juan Monterrey Mayoral & Amparo Sánchez Segura, 2015. "Planificación fiscal y Gobierno Corporativo en las empresas cotizadas españolas," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 214(3), pages 55-89, September.
    15. Francis, Bill B. & Hasan, Iftekhar & Sun, Xian & Wu, Qiang, 2016. "CEO political preference and corporate tax sheltering," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 37-53.
    16. Andrew M. Bauer & Junxiong Fang & Jeffrey Pittman & Yinqi Zhang & Yuping Zhao, 2020. "How Aggressive Tax Planning Facilitates the Diversion of Corporate Resources: Evidence from Path Analysis†," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 37(3), pages 1882-1913, September.
    17. Diogo Batista da SIlva & António Cerqueira & Elísio Brandão, 2017. "Earnings Management Dynamics in Portuguese Listed Firms," FEP Working Papers 587, Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia do Porto.
    18. 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.
    19. 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.
    20. 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.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance
    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting

    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:fst:rfsisf:v:10:y:2025:i:18:p:30-60. 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: Cosmin Catalin Olteanu The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask Cosmin Catalin Olteanu to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/isfinro.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.