2017年川普稅改政策之探討：避稅誘因對企業社會責任之影響

Abstract

過去研究對於企業避稅行為與企業社會責任表現之間的關係莫衷一是。本研究利用2017年川普的減稅與就業法案(Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017)對於避稅誘因的外生衝擊，探討企業避稅行為與企業社會責任表現的關係。本研究以環境、社會、公司治理(ESG)評比衡量企業社會責任表現，並以有效稅率衡量避稅行為，有效稅率愈低代表公司從事愈多的避稅行為。實證結果顯示，2017年減稅法案(TCJA)施行前，有效稅率愈低的公司ESG分數愈低，主要源自樣本中相對大型公司在ESG三大分項中的Environmental Pillar和Social Pillar，以及非大型公司在ESG三大分項中的Governance Pillar；TCJA使企業的避稅誘因減少，並削弱企業避稅行為與企業社會責任表現之間的負向關係。然而，在TCJA施行前，樣本中有效稅率愈低的非大型公司Social Pillar分數愈高，TCJA甚至強化避稅行為與Social Pillar分數之間的正向關係，顯示對於非大型公司而言，即使避稅誘因減少，公司仍然可能透過從事企業社會責任活動掩飾其避稅行為。此外，在考量盈餘管理後，實證結果指出即使有效稅率愈低的公司Social Pillar分數及Governance Pillar分數愈低，當這些公司從事愈多避稅行為時以進行盈餘管理時，有可能從事愈多企業社會責任活動掩飾其避稅行為。

Prior studies have yet to reach a consensus on the relationship between corporate tax avoidance (CTA) and corporate social responsibility (CSR). This study exploits the exogenous Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA of 2017) to examine the relationship between CTA and CSR. Firms’ CSR performance is measured with environment, social, and governance (ESG) ratings. CTA is measured with effective tax rate (ETR); lower ETR implies more tax avoidance. We find that firms with lower ETR have worse ESG performance prior to the enactment of the TCJA of 2017. The negative relationship between CTA and CSR performance is mainly driven by the rating of Environmental Pillar and Social Pillar of large firms and Governance Pillar of non-large firms. The TCJA of 2017 lowers the incentives for CTA, and thereby offsets the negative relationship between CTA and CSR performance. However, we find that non-large firms with lower ETR have higher Social Pillar Score prior to the enactment of the TCJA of 2017. The positive relationship between CTA and CSR performance in non-large firms is even stronger under the TCJA of 2017, implying that non-large firms more dedicated to tax avoidance may conduct more activities related to social category scores (workforce, human rights, community, and product responsibility) as a coverup for their tax avoidance activities despite the TCJA of 2017. In addition, after taking earnings management into account, we find that although firms more dedicated to tax avoidance have worse Social Pillar Score and worse Governance Pillar Score, when these firms avoid taxes more as a way of earnings manipulation, they are likely to resort more to socially responsible activities, which confirms Amidu et al. (2016)’s proposition.