Tax avoidance and ESG disclosure mandates: international evidence
研究强制ESG披露规定如何影响企业避税行为，基于48国样本发现强制披露显著降低避税，尤其在财务披露弱、执法差的国家效果更强。
Abstract This paper examines how regulations mandating environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure affect corporate tax behavior. Using a difference-in-differences analysis on a sample of firms from 48 countries, we find that ESG disclosure mandates lead to significant reductions in tax avoidance, with stronger effects for mandates that include tax-relevant provisions. We identify increases in ESG information transparency and improvements in firms’ ESG performance as channels through which ESG disclosure mandates reduce tax avoidance. We further find that the decrease in tax avoidance following ESG disclosure mandates is more pronounced in countries with weaker financial disclosure requirements, legal and tax enforcement, and environmental and social institutions. Collectively, the evidence suggests that non-financial disclosure regulations can curb aggressive tax behavior, supporting broader goals of corporate accountability and sustainable development.