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Corporate Charitable Donations, Earnings Performance and Tax Avoidance

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  • Hongfeng Sun

    (School of Economics and Management, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832003, China
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Meng Yang

    (School of Economics and Management, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832003, China
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Lidan Li

    (School of Accounting, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou 510420, China
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Chang Liu

    (School of Economics and Management, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832003, China)

Abstract

Under the traditional research framework of corporate social responsibility and tax avoidance, there is no agreement on whether charitable donations constitutes an altruistic behavior or a management tool. Using a sample of Chinese firms, this paper examines the relationship between corporate charitable donations, earnings performance and tax avoidance. The evidence shows that there is a significant negative relationship between corporate charitable donations and tax avoidance. Furthermore, we found that the negative relationship between charitable donations and tax avoidance only exists in enterprises with a good earnings performance, while it is positively correlated with tax avoidance in enterprises with a poor earnings performance. This shows that earnings performance can affect the motivation for corporate charitable donations, as the charitable donations of enterprises with a good performance are mainly an altruistic behavior, while the charitable donations of enterprises with a poor performance are more of a management tool. This conclusion not only enriches and expands the research framework of corporate social responsibility and tax avoidance but also helps to clarify the disputes in the existing literature.

Suggested Citation

  • Hongfeng Sun & Meng Yang & Lidan Li & Chang Liu, 2023. "Corporate Charitable Donations, Earnings Performance and Tax Avoidance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-21, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:4:p:3116-:d:1062166
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    References listed on IDEAS

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