An Examination of Reputational Costs and Tax Avoidance: Evidence from Firms with Valuable Consumer Brands
研究发现，拥有高价值消费者品牌的企业为避免损害声誉而减少避税行为，其有效税率与品牌声誉正相关。
ABSTRACT We expect firms with the greatest exposure to reputational damage among consumers will engage in lower levels of tax avoidance to minimize unwanted scrutiny that could impair the firms' reputation. We identify a set of firms with valuable consumer reputation using Harris Interactive's EquiTrend survey, which surveys consumers about their perceptions of valuable and prominent brands. We find evidence in support of our hypothesis that firms with valuable brands will engage in less tax avoidance. Specifically, we find a positive and significant association between our measure of reputation and both the GAAP and cash effective tax rates (measured over one and three years). We find mixed evidence on whether there is a negative and significant association between reputation and the probability the firm is engaging in tax sheltering.