IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/advacc/v66y2024ics0882611023000615.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Do competitive markets encourage tax aggressiveness?

Author

Listed:
  • Callahan, Carolyn M.
  • Plečnik, James M.
  • Ryou, Jiwoo

Abstract

We investigate whether industry-level product market competition and firm-level market leadership affect firms' tax aggressiveness. Studying competition from both current market participants and potential entrants, and using a market share-based measure of market leadership, we find that firms facing higher competition from current market participants engage in more tax aggressiveness. We further find that market-following firms — rather than market‑leading firms — engage in relatively more tax aggressiveness within these higher competition settings. Our results contrast with most political and regulatory anecdotes that target market‑leading firms for aggressive tax behaviors, and add to the ongoing policy debates on tax incidence. Our main findings and additional tests are consistent with the view that market‑leading firms in imperfectively competitive product markets are able to pass on tax costs to customers, while market-following firms in crowded industries are pressured to engage in tax aggressiveness because they cannot pass on tax costs.

Suggested Citation

  • Callahan, Carolyn M. & Plečnik, James M. & Ryou, Jiwoo, 2024. "Do competitive markets encourage tax aggressiveness?," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:advacc:v:66:y:2024:i:c:s0882611023000615
    DOI: 10.1016/j.adiac.2023.100702
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0882611023000615
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.adiac.2023.100702?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. 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. Lloyd A. Metzler, 1949. "Tariffs, International Demand, and Domestic Prices," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 57(4), pages 345-345.
    3. Joel Peress, 2010. "Product Market Competition, Insider Trading, and Stock Market Efficiency," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(1), pages 1-43, February.
    4. Kahle, Kathleen M. & Walkling, Ralph A., 1996. "The Impact of Industry Classifications on Financial Research," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 31(3), pages 309-335, September.
    5. Michael C. Herron & James Lavin & Donald Cram & Jay Silver, 1999. "Measurement of Political Effects in the United States Economy: A Study of the 1992 Presidential Election," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(1), pages 51-81, March.
    6. Rhoades, Stephen A., 1985. "Market share as a source of market power: Implications and some evidence," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 343-363, December.
    7. Fershtman, C. & Gandal, N. & Markovich, S., 1997. "Estimating the Effect of Tax Reform in Differentiated Product Oligopolistic Markets," Papers 29-97, Tel Aviv.
    8. Kathleen M. Kahle & Ralph A. Walkling, "undated". "The Impact of Industry Classifications on Financial Research," Research in Financial Economics 9607, Ohio State University.
    9. Kubick, Thomas R. & Lockhart, G. Brandon, 2017. "Corporate tax aggressiveness and the maturity structure of debt," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 50-57.
    10. Adachi, Takanori & Fabinger, Michal, 2022. "Pass-through, welfare, and incidence under imperfect competition," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).
    11. Mills, LF, 1998. "Book-tax differences and internal revenue service adjustments," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(2), pages 343-356.
    12. Scott R. Baker & Stephen Teng Sun & Constantine Yannelis, 2020. "Corporate Taxes and Retail Prices," NBER Working Papers 27058, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Anderson, Simon P. & de Palma, Andre & Kreider, Brent, 2001. "Tax incidence in differentiated product oligopoly," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(2), pages 173-192, August.
    14. 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.
    15. Hanwen Chen & Jeff Zeyun Chen & Gerald J. Lobo & Yanyan Wang, 2010. "Association Between Borrower and Lender State Ownership and Accounting Conservatism," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(5), pages 973-1014, December.
    16. Mitchell A. Petersen, 2009. "Estimating Standard Errors in Finance Panel Data Sets: Comparing Approaches," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(1), pages 435-480, January.
    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. Kyle Bagwell & Garey Ramey & Daniel F. Spulber, 1997. "Dynamic Retail Price and Investment Competition," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 28(2), pages 207-227, Summer.
    19. Huseynov, Fariz & Sardarli, Sabuhi & Zhang, Wei, 2017. "Does index addition affect corporate tax avoidance?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 241-259.
    20. Datta, Sudip & Iskandar-Datta, Mai & Singh, Vivek, 2013. "Product market power, industry structure, and corporate earnings management," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 3273-3285.
    21. Valta, Philip, 2012. "Competition and the cost of debt," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(3), pages 661-682.
    22. Mills, Lillian F., 1996. "Corporate Tax Compliance and Financial Reporting," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 49(3), pages 421-433, September.
    23. Andrei Shleifer, 2004. "Does Competition Destroy Ethical Behavior?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(2), pages 414-418, May.
    24. Kim, Yongtae & Park, Myung Seok, 2005. "Pricing of Seasoned Equity Offers and Earnings Management," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 40(2), pages 435-463, June.
    25. Jones, Jj, 1991. "Earnings Management During Import Relief Investigations," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 193-228.
    26. Scott D. Dyreng & Jeffrey L. Hoopes & Jaron H. Wilde, 2016. "Public Pressure and Corporate Tax Behavior," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(1), pages 147-186, March.
    27. Klaus M. Schmidt, 1997. "Managerial Incentives and Product Market Competition," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 64(2), pages 191-213.
    28. Maria Guadalupe & Julie Wulf, 2010. "The Flattening Firm and Product Market Competition: The Effect of Trade Liberalization on Corporate Hierarchies," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(4), pages 105-127, October.
    29. repec:bla:jindec:v:47:y:1999:i:3:p:263-83 is not listed on IDEAS
    30. Hanlon, Michelle & Heitzman, Shane, 2010. "A review of tax research," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 127-178, December.
    31. 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.
    32. Brandon Julio & Youngsuk Yook, 2012. "Political Uncertainty and Corporate Investment Cycles," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 67(1), pages 45-84, February.
    33. 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.
    34. Häckner, Jonas & Herzing, Mathias, 2022. "Tax incidence in oligopolistic markets," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).
    35. Johannes Hörner, 2002. "Reputation and Competition," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(3), pages 644-663, June.
    36. Carter, Mary Ellen & Choi, Jen & Sedatole, Karen L., 2021. "The effect of supplier industry competition on pay-for-performance incentive intensity," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(2).
    37. Zimmerman, Jerold L., 1983. "Taxes and firm size," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 119-149, April.
    38. Oliver D. Hart, 1983. "The Market Mechanism as an Incentive Scheme," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 14(2), pages 366-382, Autumn.
    39. Gravelle, Jennifer, 2013. "Corporate Tax Incidence: Review of General Equilibrium Estimates and Analysis," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 66(1), pages 185-214, March.
    40. Nickell, Stephen J, 1996. "Competition and Corporate Performance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(4), pages 724-746, August.
    41. Oberhofer, W & Kmenta, J, 1974. "A General Procedure for Obtaining Maximum Likelihood Estimates in Generalized Regression Models," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 42(3), pages 579-590, May.
    42. Bughin, Jacques, 1996. "Trade Unions and Firms' Product Market Power," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(3), pages 289-307, September.
    43. Robert H. Bork & J. Gregory Sidak, 2013. "The Misuse Of Profit Margins To Infer Market Power," Journal of Competition Law and Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 9(3), pages 511-530.
    44. Cheh, John H, 1976. "A Note on Tariffs, Nontariff Barriers, and Labor Protection in United States Manufacturing Industries," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 84(2), pages 389-394, April.
    45. Sonja Olhoft Rego, 2003. "Tax†Avoidance Activities of U.S. Multinational Corporations," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(4), pages 805-833, December.
    46. Xavier Giroud & Holger M. Mueller, 2011. "Corporate Governance, Product Market Competition, and Equity Prices," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(2), pages 563-600, April.
    47. R. Alison Felix, 2007. "Passing the Burden: Corporate Tax Incidence in Open Economies," LIS Working papers 468, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    48. Stephen W. Davies & Nigel L. Driffield & Roger Clarke, 1999. "Monopoly in the UK: What determines whether the MMC finds against the investigated firms?," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(3), pages 263-283, September.
    49. Erik Devos & Palani-Rajan Kadapakkam & Srinivasan Krishnamurthy, 2009. "How Do Mergers Create Value? A Comparison of Taxes, Market Power, and Efficiency Improvements as Explanations for Synergies," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(3), pages 1179-1211, March.
    50. El’fred Boo & Divesh Sharma, 2008. "Effect of regulatory oversight on the association between internal governance characteristics and audit fees," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 48(1), pages 51-71, March.
    51. Jensen, Gerald R. & Solberg, Donald P. & Zorn, Thomas S., 1992. "Simultaneous Determination of Insider Ownership, Debt, and Dividend Policies," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 27(2), pages 247-263, June.
    52. Travis Chow & Kenneth J. Klassen & Yanju Liu, 2016. "Targets' Tax Shelter Participation and Takeover Premiums," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 33(4), pages 1440-1472, December.
    53. W. Kip Viscusi & Joseph E. Harrington & John M. Vernon, 2005. "Economics of Regulation and Antitrust, 4th Edition," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 4, volume 1, number 026222075x, December.
    54. Kelvin K. F. Law & Lillian F. Mills, 2015. "Taxes and Financial Constraints: Evidence from Linguistic Cues," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(4), pages 777-819, September.
    55. Mills, Lillian F., 1996. "Corporate Tax Compliance and Financial Reporting," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 49(3), pages 421-33, September.
    56. Leonidas Doukakis & Dimitrios C. Ghicas & Georgia Siougle & Theodore Sougiannis, 2020. "The Informativeness of Micro and Macro Information During Economic Crisis and Non-Crisis Periods: Evidence from Europe," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(3), pages 467-492, May.
    57. Ramji Balakrishnan & Leslie Eldenburg & Ranjani Krishnan & Naomi Soderstrom, 2010. "The Influence of Institutional Constraints on Outsourcing," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(4), pages 767-794, September.
    58. Michael Luca & Georgios Zervas, 2016. "Fake It Till You Make It: Reputation, Competition, and Yelp Review Fraud," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 62(12), pages 3412-3427, December.
    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. Atawnah, Nader & Zaman, Rashid & Liu, Jia & Atawna, Thaer & Maghyereh, Aktham, 2023. "Does foreign competition affect corporate debt maturity structure? Evidence from import penetration," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    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. 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).
    4. 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.
    5. Chaudhry, Neeru, 2021. "Tax aggressiveness and idiosyncratic volatility," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    6. Devos, Erik & Rahman, Shofiqur, 2023. "Does labor unemployment insurance affect corporate tax aggressiveness?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    7. Chii-Shyan Kuo, 2022. "Family firms, tax avoidance, and socioemotional wealth: evidence from tax reform in Taiwan," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 58(4), pages 1535-1572, May.
    8. Mahmud Hossain & Gerald J. Lobo & Santanu Mitra, 2023. "Firm-level political risk and corporate tax avoidance," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 60(1), pages 295-327, January.
    9. Ziqi Gao & Louise Yi Lu & Yangxin Yu, 2019. "Local Social Environment, Firm Tax Policy, and Firm Characteristics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 158(2), pages 487-506, August.
    10. Yoojin Shin & Jung-Mi Park, 2023. "The Effect of a Company’s Sustainable Competitive Advantage on Their Tax Avoidance Strategy—Focusing on Market Competition in Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-15, May.
    11. 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.
    12. Qingyuan Li & Edward L. Maydew & Richard H. Willis & Li Xu, 2023. "Taxes and director independence: evidence from board reforms worldwide," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 28(2), pages 910-957, June.
    13. Yicheng Wang & Brian Wright, 2024. "Tax-strategy-related words, firm’s ability, and tax avoidance," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 21(4), pages 685-713, December.
    14. Martin Jacob & Anna Rohlfing-Bastian & Kai Sandner, 2021. "Why do not all firms engage in tax avoidance?," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 459-495, February.
    15. Chen, Jie & Mishra, Tapas & Song, Wei & Zhang, Qingjing & Zhang, Zhuang, 2024. "The impact of bank mergers on corporate tax aggressiveness," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    16. Kim, Tae-Nyun & Lee, Pil-Seng, 2023. "Product market threats and tax avoidance," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    17. Scott D. Dyreng & Jeffrey L. Hoopes & Jaron H. Wilde, 2016. "Public Pressure and Corporate Tax Behavior," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(1), pages 147-186, March.
    18. Ke Na & Wenjia Yan, 2022. "Languages and corporate tax avoidance," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 27(1), pages 148-184, March.
    19. Haque, Tariq & Pham, Thu Phuong & Yang, Jiaxin, 2023. "Geopolitical risk, financial constraints, and tax avoidance," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    20. Michał Kałdoński, 2015. "Unikanie opodatkowania w firmach rodzinnych notowanych na Giełdzie Papierów Wartościowych w Warszawie," Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, issue 2, pages 79-111.

    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:advacc:v:66:y:2024:i:c:s0882611023000615. 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/advances-in-accounting/ .

    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.