Are Female CFOs Less Tax Aggressive? Evidence from Tax Aggressiveness
Journal of American Taxation Association, Forthcoming
Bank of Finland Research Discussion Paper No. 16/2014
Fordham University Schools of Business Research Paper No. 2474543
52 Pages Posted: 1 Aug 2014
There are 2 versions of this paper
Are Female CFOs Less Tax Aggressive? Evidence from Tax Aggressiveness
Are Female CFOs Less Tax Aggressive? Evidence from Tax Aggressiveness
Date Written: July 9, 2014
Abstract
This paper investigates the effect of CFO gender on corporate tax aggressiveness. Focusing on firms that experience a male-to-female CFO transition, the paper compares those firms’ degree of tax aggressiveness during the pre- and post-transition periods. Using the probability of tax sheltering, the predicted unrecognized tax benefits, and the discretionary permanent book-tax differences to measure tax aggressiveness, we find that female CFOs are associated with less tax aggressiveness as compared to their male counterparts. The main findings are supported by additional tests based on propensity score matching, difference-in-difference tests, and tests with a female-to-male CFO transition sample. Overall, our study establishes CFO gender as an important determinant of tax aggressiveness.
Keywords: tax aggressiveness, tax avoidance, gender, CFO, risk-aversion
JEL Classification: H26, M41, J16
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
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