Do tax aggressive executives influence corporate philanthropy?

Jang, Hansol

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/107909 Copy

Description

Title

Do tax aggressive executives influence corporate philanthropy?

Author(s)

Jang, Hansol

Issue Date

2020-04-22

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Donohoe, Michael

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Donohoe, Michael

Committee Member(s)

• Elliott, W. Brooke
• Irani, Rustom
• Sougiannis, Theodore

Department of Study

Accountancy

Discipline

Accountancy

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

tax aggressiveness, executives, corporate philanthropy

Abstract

This study examines whether personally tax aggressive executives pursue corporate philanthropy. Relative to a control group, corporate philanthropy increases by 3.0 percent, on average, following personal tax aggression events by executives. Put another way, every $1 of personal tax gain by executives is associated with $2.01 of corporate resources spent on corporate philanthropy. Further analyses suggest that the positive association between corporate philanthropy and executive-level tax aggression is consistent with a behavioral theory. In an environment where a social norm for paying a “fair share” of taxes exists, personally tax aggressive executives might experience disutility from violating the social norm, leading them to engage in compensatory activities to mitigate disutility. Consistent with this idea, personally tax aggressive executives pursue greater corporate philanthropy, presumably to “cleanse” themselves of such tax-related disutility.

Graduation Semester

2020-05

Type of Resource

Thesis

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/107909

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2020 Hansol Jang

Owning Collections