تأثیر مسئولیت اجتماعی شرکتی بر اجتناب از پرداخت مالیات شرکت ها: شواهدی از رویکرد تطبیقی Effect of corporate social responsibility on corporate tax avoidance: evidence from a matching approach

1 Introduction In response to the sustainable development goals announced by the United Nations, the Chinese government proposed ideas for innovative, coordinated, green, open, and shared development for the 13th fve-year plan of national economic and social development, laying the foundation for the future development of corporate social responsibility (CSR). The Chinese government also announced the launch of the carbon emission trading system in 2017 and is therefore expected to put more eforts into promoting green development and tackling climate change. Chinese frms facing increasingly strict regulations are required to implement CSR at the earliest. According to the Research Report on Corporate Social Responsibility of China published by the Corporate Social Responsibility Research Center, Chinese Academy of Social Science (2016), the development of CSR in China has been increasing since 2009. With the continuous development of CSR, related topics have received attention from the academia. Recent studies have examined the relationship between CSR and tax avoidance, arguing that the relationship varies according to various perspectives. From the perspective of corporate culture theories (Kreps 1990), CSR exerts a negative efect on tax avoidance (Lanis and Richardson 2012).1 Firms engaging in CSR because of the corporate culture tend to consider not only the interests of shareholders, but also the impact of their business activities on economies, societies, and environments. However, frms failing to pay adequate taxes because of their tax avoidance activity may cause the entire society to pay a high price, resulting in irreparable losses (Weisbach 2002; Williams 2007). In addition, tax avoidance is an opportunistic behavior that violates the invisible contract between frms and the society; it results in high social costs, hinders government’s right to collect tax from frms, and sacrifces public interests (Weisbach 2002). Therefore, paying taxes is regarded as a method of contributing to the society and is consistent with the goal of CSR from the perspective of corporate culture theories. In this case, tax payments and CSR are complementary. Lanis and Richardson (2015) target frms in the United States and fnd that frms with a higher level of CSR performance are less likely to engage in tax avoidance. By contrast, other studies have argued that if frms treat CSR activities as risk management strategies (Godfrey 2005; Godfrey et al. 2009), they are more likely to engage in tax avoidance (Hoi et al. 2013). Tax avoidance may lead to serious negative outcomes, such as reputation damage, media pressure, penalties imposed by tax administrations, and even boycott from customers (Hanlon and Slemrod 2009; Wilson 2009). Therefore, CSR should be regarded as a risk management strategy that can enhance frms’ reputation. Firms with a high reputation can avoid serious political, regulatory, and social sanctions (Godfrey 2005; Minor and Morgan 2011). Minor and Morgan (2011) suggest that CSR provides a function similar to that provided by insurance; it can help frms to reduce the risk of sanctions when facing negative events. Specifcally, frms practice CSR activities in order to manage their reputation, thus reducing the expected costs related to tax avoidance (Godfrey 2005). In this case, tax payments and CSR are substitutes for one another. In other words, CSR exerts a positive efect on tax avoidance.