Board's characteristics, ownership's nature and corporate tax aggressiveness: new evidence from the Tunisian context

Abstract

Purpose This study sheds light on the determinants related to the corporate board of directors and the firms’ ownership nature of tax aggressiveness strategies of Tunisian listed firms and what could be their effect on its level in a postrevolution context. Design/methodology/approach Our research considers only nonfinancial firms listed in the Tunisian stock exchange during the 2011–2017 period. It is based on unbalanced panel data. Findings Findings suggest that women presence on the corporate board, CEO duality, the managerial and institutional ownership regularize significantly the level and the management's behavior of engagement in tax aggressiveness practices and reduce the firm’s overall risks of its consequences in terms of tax positions stability. Research limitations/implications Our investigation considers only nonfinancial firms to avoid noisy results and for the significant differences between accounting standards within financial and nonfinancial firms, besides sample homogeneity and comparability considerations. Practical implications This study provides evidence that some governance mechanisms, even reasonably dedicated to consider the risk of tax aggressiveness and to prevent its consequences, have a paradoxical effect and amplify the tax aggressiveness’ level rather than defending the firm’s viability and its financial stability. It offers signals to managers about specific governance attributes that strengthen and/or control the extent of tax aggressive strategies. Social implications This research gives a particular road map for society, investors and practitioners to depict the firms’ level of tax aggressiveness and especially to understand its attributes related to the corporate board of directors and the ownership's nature through evidences from a postrevolution context. Originality/value Our research contributes to prior literature by examining the effect of corporate board characteristics and different ownership natures on the extent of tax aggressiveness during and after the revolution period in Tunisia and confirms and infers some prior findings of tax aggressive determinants in underdevelopment context.

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