IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/pacfin/v79y2023ics0927538x23000914.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Involuntary political connections and private firms' tax avoidance

Author

Listed:
  • Xiang, Junyi
  • Zhang, Hongxiang
  • Dang, Dingyu
  • Guan, Jing

Abstract

This study investigates the effects of government intervention on firms' tax avoidance. Based on a unique setting in China, where the geographic distance between firms and local governments is set exogenously, we find that the government involvements significantly increase firms' tax avoidance. Further analysis shows that governments' potential expropriations causally increase firms' incentives on tax avoidance, which eventually leads firms facing better investment opportunity or severer industry competition to accumulate more internal capital. Overall, we fill the literature gap by presenting the casual evidence about local governments' grabbing hands on firms' tax avoidance in market without diversified financial channels.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiang, Junyi & Zhang, Hongxiang & Dang, Dingyu & Guan, Jing, 2023. "Involuntary political connections and private firms' tax avoidance," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pacfin:v:79:y:2023:i:c:s0927538x23000914
    DOI: 10.1016/j.pacfin.2023.102025
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927538X23000914
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.pacfin.2023.102025?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. Jon N. Kerr, 2019. "Transparency, Information Shocks, and Tax Avoidance," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 36(2), pages 1146-1183, June.
    2. Juan Carlos Suárez Serrato & Owen Zidar, 2016. "Who Benefits from State Corporate Tax Cuts? A Local Labor Markets Approach with Heterogeneous Firms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(9), pages 2582-2624, September.
    3. Agrawal, Anup & Knoeber, Charles R, 2001. "Do Some Outside Directors Play a Political Role?," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 44(1), pages 179-198, April.
    4. Daniel G. Garrett & Eric Ohrn & Juan Carlos Suárez Serrato, 2020. "Tax Policy and Local Labor Market Behavior," American Economic Review: Insights, American Economic Association, vol. 2(1), pages 83-100, March.
    5. Kedia, Simi & Rajgopal, Shiva, 2011. "Do the SEC's enforcement preferences affect corporate misconduct?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 259-278, April.
    6. Mihir A. Desai, 2005. "The Degradation of Reported Corporate Profits," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 19(4), pages 171-192, Fall.
    7. Zhang, Min & M, Lijun & Zhang, Bo & Yi, Zhihong, 2016. "Pyramidal structure, political intervention and firms' tax burden: Evidence from China's local SOEs," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 15-25.
    8. William R. Kerr & William F. Lincoln & Prachi Mishra, 2014. "The Dynamics of Firm Lobbying," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 6(4), pages 343-379, November.
    9. Shackelford, Douglas A. & Shevlin, Terry, 2001. "Empirical tax research in accounting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-3), pages 321-387, September.
    10. Zhangkai Huang & Lixing Li & Guangrong Ma & Lixin Colin Xu, 2017. "Hayek, Local Information, and Commanding Heights: Decentralizing State-Owned Enterprises in China," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(8), pages 2455-2478, August.
    11. Martin L. Weitzman & Chenggang Xu, 1997. "Chinese Township-Village Enterprises as Vaguely Defined Cooperatives," International Economic Association Series, in: John E. Roemer (ed.), Property Relations, Incentives and Welfare, chapter 12, pages 326-355, Palgrave Macmillan.
    12. Tonin, Mirco, 2011. "Minimum wage and tax evasion: Theory and evidence," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(11), pages 1635-1651.
    13. Valta, Philip, 2012. "Competition and the cost of debt," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(3), pages 661-682.
    14. Gerard Hoberg & Gordon Phillips, 2010. "Real and Financial Industry Booms and Busts," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(1), pages 45-86, February.
    15. Eitan Goldman & Jörg Rocholl & Jongil So, 2013. "Politically Connected Boards of Directors and The Allocation of Procurement Contracts," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 17(5), pages 1617-1648.
    16. Frye, Timothy & Shleifer, Andrei, 1997. "The Invisible Hand and the Grabbing Hand," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(2), pages 354-358, May.
    17. Yi Lu Jr. & Linhui Yu Jr., 2015. "Trade Liberalization and Markup Dispersion: Evidence from China's WTO Accession," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 7(4), pages 221-253, October.
    18. Chang-Tai Hsieh & Peter J. Klenow, 2009. "Misallocation and Manufacturing TFP in China and India," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(4), pages 1403-1448.
    19. Pellegrino, Gabriele & Piva, Mariacristina & Vivarelli, Marco, 2012. "Young firms and innovation: A microeconometric analysis," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 329-340.
    20. Brandt, Loren & Van Biesebroeck, Johannes & Zhang, Yifan, 2012. "Creative accounting or creative destruction? Firm-level productivity growth in Chinese manufacturing," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 339-351.
    21. Duchin, Ran & Sosyura, Denis, 2012. "The politics of government investment," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(1), pages 24-48.
    22. Laurent Fresard, 2010. "Financial Strength and Product Market Behavior: The Real Effects of Corporate Cash Holdings," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(3), pages 1097-1122, June.
    23. Nagar, Venky & Petroni, Kathy & Wolfenzon, Daniel, 2011. "Governance Problems in Closely Held Corporations," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 46(4), pages 943-966, August.
    24. Ma, Song & Murfin, Justin & Pratt, Ryan, 2022. "Young firms, old capital," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(1), pages 331-356.
    25. Johnson, Simon & Mitton, Todd, 2003. "Cronyism and capital controls: evidence from Malaysia," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 351-382, February.
    26. John Asker & Joan Farre-Mensa & Alexander Ljungqvist, 2015. "Corporate Investment and Stock Market Listing: A Puzzle?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 28(2), pages 342-390.
    27. Jiahua Che & Yingyi Qian, 1998. "Insecure Property Rights and Government Ownership of Firms," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 113(2), pages 467-496.
    28. Asim Ijaz Khwaja & Atif Mian, 2005. "Do Lenders Favor Politically Connected Firms? Rent Provision in an Emerging Financial Market," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(4), pages 1371-1411.
    29. 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.
    30. 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.
    31. Dougherty, Sean & Herd, Richard & He, Ping, 2007. "Has a private sector emerged in China's industry? Evidence from a quarter of a million Chinese firms," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 309-334.
    32. Boubakri, Narjess & Cosset, Jean-Claude & Saffar, Walid, 2013. "The role of state and foreign owners in corporate risk-taking: Evidence from privatization," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(3), pages 641-658.
    33. Leuthold, Jane H., 1991. "Tax shares in developing economies A panel study," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 173-185, January.
    34. Joseph D. Piotroski & T. J. Wong & Tianyu Zhang, 2015. "Political Incentives to Suppress Negative Information: Evidence from Chinese Listed Firms," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(2), pages 405-459, May.
    35. Charles J. Hadlock & Joshua R. Pierce, 2010. "New Evidence on Measuring Financial Constraints: Moving Beyond the KZ Index," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(5), pages 1909-1940.
    36. Hanlon, Michelle & Heitzman, Shane, 2010. "A review of tax research," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 127-178, December.
    37. 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.
    38. MARA FACCIO & RONALD W. MASULIS & JOHN J. McCONNELL, 2006. "Political Connections and Corporate Bailouts," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(6), pages 2597-2635, December.
    39. Hehui Jin & Yingyi Qian, 1998. "Public Versus Private Ownership of Firms: Evidence from Rural China," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 113(3), pages 773-808.
    40. Giroud, Xavier & Mueller, Holger M., 2010. "Does corporate governance matter in competitive industries?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(3), pages 312-331, March.
    41. Jung, Hae Won (Henny) & Subramanian, Ajay, 2017. "CEO talent, CEO compensation, and product market competition," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(1), pages 48-71.
    42. Joshua D. Coval & Tobias J. Moskowitz, 1999. "Home Bias at Home: Local Equity Preference in Domestic Portfolios," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(6), pages 2045-2073, December.
    43. Ran Duchin & Zhenyu Gao & Haibing Shu & David Denis, 2020. "The Role of Government in Firm Outcomes," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 33(12), pages 5555-5593.
    44. 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.
    45. Erik P. Gilje & Jerome P. Taillard, 2016. "Do Private Firms Invest Differently than Public Firms? Taking Cues from the Natural Gas Industry," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 71(4), pages 1733-1778, August.
    46. Laurent Fresard, 2010. "Financial Strength and Product Market Behavior: The Real Effects of Corporate Cash Holdings," Post-Print hal-00537081, HAL.
    47. Raymond Fisman, 2001. "Estimating the Value of Political Connections," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(4), pages 1095-1102, September.
    48. Campello, Murillo & Graham, John R., 2013. "Do stock prices influence corporate decisions? Evidence from the technology bubble," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(1), pages 89-110.
    49. Steven N. Kaplan & Luigi Zingales, 1997. "Do Investment-Cash Flow Sensitivities Provide Useful Measures of Financing Constraints?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(1), pages 169-215.
    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. Xiang, Junyi & Zhu, Ling & Kong, Dongmin, 2023. "Labor cost and corporate tax avoidance," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 338-358.
    2. Park, SeHyun, 2023. "Profitability of politically corrupt firms: Evidence from Romania," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    3. Park, SeHyun, 2022. "Liquid asset sheltering, or cost of capital? The effect of political corruption on corporate cash holdings," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    4. Onal, Bunyamin, 2023. "Do politically connected directors play an information role under policy uncertainty?," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    5. Habib, Ahsan & Muhammadi, Abdul Haris & Jiang, Haiyan, 2017. "Political connections, related party transactions, and auditor choice: Evidence from Indonesia," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 1-19.
    6. Qiankun Gu & Jeong‐Bon Kim & Ke Liao & Yi Si, 2023. "Decentralising for local information? Evidence from state‐owned listed firms in China," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(5), pages 5245-5276, December.
    7. Ufuk Akcigit & Salomé Baslandze & Francesca Lotti, 2023. "Connecting to Power: Political Connections, Innovation, and Firm Dynamics," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 91(2), pages 529-564, March.
    8. 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).
    9. Okazaki, Tetsuji & Sawada, Michiru, 2017. "Measuring the extent and implications of corporate political connections in prewar Japan," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 17-35.
    10. Shang, Longfei & Lin, Ji-Chai & Saffar, Walid, 2021. "Does economic policy uncertainty drive the initiation of corporate lobbying?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    11. Boubakri, Narjess & Guedhami, Omrane & Mishra, Dev & Saffar, Walid, 2012. "Political connections and the cost of equity capital," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 541-559.
    12. Grossman, Richard S. & Imai, Masami, 2016. "Taking the lord's name in vain: The impact of connected directors on 19th century British banks," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 75-93.
    13. Albuquerque, Rui & Lei, Zicheng & Rocholl, Jörg & Zhang, Chendi, 2020. "Citizens United vs. FEC and corporate political activism," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    14. Feng, Xunan & Johansson, Anders C., 2014. "Escaping political extraction: Political participation, institutions, and cash holdings in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 98-112.
    15. Joel F. Houston & Liangliang Jiang & Chen Lin & Yue Ma, 2014. "Political Connections and the Cost of Bank Loans," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(1), pages 193-243, March.
    16. Carney, Richard W. & Child, Travers Barclay & Li, Xiang, 2020. "Board connections and crisis performance: Family, state, and political networks," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    17. Nicholas S. Coleman & Ozlem Akin & José-Luis Peydró & Christian Fons-Rosen, 2016. "Political Connections: Evidence From Insider Trading Around TARP," Working Papers 935, Barcelona School of Economics.
    18. Cheung, Yan-Leung & Rau, P. Raghavendra & Aris, Stouraitis, 2008. "The helping hand, the lazy hand, or the grabbing hand? Central vs. local government shareholders in publicly listed firms in China," CEI Working Paper Series 2008-11, Center for Economic Institutions, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    19. Qiao, Lu & Fei, Junjun, 2022. "Government subsidies, enterprise operating efficiency, and “stiff but deathless” zombie firms," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    20. Papadimitri, Panagiota & Pasiouras, Fotios & Pescetto, Gioia & Wohlschlegel, Ansgar, 2021. "Does political influence distort banking regulation? Evidence from the US," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Involuntary political connections; Tax avoidance; Investment opportunity; Industry competition;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G31 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Capital Budgeting; Fixed Investment and Inventory Studies
    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting
    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State

    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:pacfin:v:79:y:2023:i:c:s0927538x23000914. 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/pacfin .

    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.