Political connections, corruption and tax evasion: a cross-country investigation

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 401-411 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hichem Khlif ◽  
Ines Amara
Keyword(s):  
Tax Evasion ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Tax Compliance ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Political Connections ◽  
Political Connection ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cross Country

Purpose This paper aims to examine the association between political connections and tax evasion and test whether corruption level affects this relationship. Design/methodology/approach Tax evasion measure is based on Schneider et al. (2010), while country’s political connection trend is based on Faccio (2006). Findings Using a sample of 35 countries, the authors document that political connections are positively associated with tax evasion and this relationship becomes stronger for high corrupt environment. Originality/value The findings have policy implications for countries aiming to combat tax evasion as political connection trends in one country reduce the level of tax compliance. In addition, political connections and corruption play a complimentary role in increasing tax evasion practices.

scholarly journals Sustainability level, corruption and tax evasion: a cross-country analysis

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 328-348 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hichem Khlif ◽  
Achraf Guidara ◽  
Khaled Hussainey
Keyword(s):  
Tax Evasion ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Global Competitiveness ◽  
Country Analysis ◽  
Cross Country ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Global Competitiveness Report

Purpose This paper aims to examine the relationship between the level of sustainability and tax evasion and test whether the level of corruption moderates such a relationship. Design/methodology/approach The sample consists of 65 developed and developing countries. Tax evasion is measured using a macro indirect approach used by Schneider et al. (2010). The sustainability level and corruption variables are collected from The Global Competitiveness Report for 2012-2013. Findings This study finds that the level of tax evasion is negatively associated with the level of sustainability (overall score and social and environmental score) and the quality of infrastructure. When we distinguish between low- and high-corruption countries, we find that this negative association is significant for low-corruption countries and insignificant for high-corruption countries. These results imply that the level of corruption may reduce the tendency of individuals in a given state to accept and trust their government in general and comply with the tax rules in particular. Originality/value Our empirical findings have policy implications for governments with high levels of tax evasion, as they highlight the importance of states’ engagements towards their citizens in reducing tax evasion.

Financial crime, corruption and tax evasion: a cross-country investigation

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 545-554 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ines Amara ◽  
Hichem Khlif
Keyword(s):  
Money Laundering ◽  
Tax Evasion ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Positive Relationship ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Financial Crime ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Financial Crimes ◽  
Cross Country ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose This paper aims to examine the relationship between the financial crime and tax evasion and tests whether corruption moderates such a relationship. Design/methodology/approach Tax evasion measure is based on Schneider et al. (2010). Financial crime is collected from Basel anti-money laundering (AML) report. Findings Using a sample of 120 countries, the authors find that the level of financial crime is positively associated with tax evasion. When testing for the moderating effect of corruption, they document that the positive relationship between financial crime and tax evasion is more pronounced for high corrupt environments. Originality/value The findings have policy implications for governments aiming to combat tax evasion and financial crimes.

Strength of auditing and reporting standards, ethical behavior of firms and sustainability: a cross-country investigation

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Achraf Guidara ◽  
Anis El Ammari ◽  
Hichem Khlif
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Ethical Behavior ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Reporting Standards ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Global Competitiveness ◽  
Ethical Behaviors ◽  
Cross Country

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the association between the strength of auditing and reporting standards (SARS, hereafter) and sustainability and investigates whether ethical behavior of firms moderates relationship between SARS and sustainability.Design/methodology/approachThe sample consists of 500 country-year observations over the period of 2014–2017. Sustainability is collected from the Global Sustainable Competitiveness Index Reports for 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017, while SARS and ethical behaviors are collected from the Global Competitiveness Reports for the same years.FindingsThe findings of this study suggest that the SARS is associated with sustainability. Similarly, ethical behavior of firms has a positive and significant effect on sustainability. When testing for the moderating effect of ethical behavior of firms on the association between SARS and sustainability, the results show that the positive association SARS becomes positive and more significant for countries where firms operate with high ethical behaviors, while the association becomes insignificant for settings where firms operate with low ethical behaviors.Originality/valueThe findings emphasize the role played by SARS and business ethics in improving sustainability. These results may have policy implications for governments aiming to improve sustainability by strengthening auditing and reporting standards and enforcing laws obliging firms to act ethically.

Taxpayers’ perceptions on tax evasion behaviour: an empirical study in Malaysia

2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 413-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chan Pui Yee ◽  
Krishna Moorthy ◽  
William Choo Keng Soon
Keyword(s):  
Social Exchange ◽  
Tax Evasion ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Tax Compliance ◽  
Assessment System ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Tax System ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The success of self-assessment tax system is voluntary compliance with the tax laws. When tax evasion is seen as unacceptable, taxpayers will tend to evade tax less. Hence, the understanding of taxpayers’ attitude on tax morality towards a tax system has to be enhanced to minimize tax evasion cases. The purposes of this study are to examine the relationship between tax fairness, tax knowledge, enforcement level and social exchange towards taxpayers’ attitude of tax morality under the self-assessment system in Malaysia and also to identify the relationship between taxpayers’ attitude of tax morality and taxpayers’ perceptions on tax evasion. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 400 taxpayers through a questionnaire and analysed. Findings From the analysis, it has been found out that tax knowledge is the most important tax system characteristic that affects taxpayers’ attitude of tax morality. In addition, taxpayers’ attitude of tax morality is significant to taxpayers’ perceptions on tax evasion in Malaysia. Originality/value The findings of this study would be useful for the government to further improve the present tax system to increase voluntary tax compliance.

Moderating influence of religiosity on the causality between taxpaying attitudes and tax compliance behaviour of entrepreneurial firms in Nigeria

2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lateef Ayodele Agbetunde ◽  
Lukman Raimi ◽  
Olalekan Oladipo Akinrinola
Keyword(s):  
Tax Evasion ◽  
Tax Compliance ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Entrepreneurial Firms ◽  
Linear Regression Models ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Compliance Behaviour

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the moderating influence of religiosity on the effect of taxpaying attitudes on the tax compliance behaviour of entrepreneurial firms in Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach Using a cross-sectional survey design, we collected primary data from 368 owner managers of entrepreneurial firms in Southwest Nigeria using structured questionnaires. Respondents were purposefully selected based on the purposive sampling technique. The data collected with the structured questionnaires were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Two linear regression models were compared. Findings Estimations in Models 1 and 2 suggest that taxpayers’ attitudes and religiosity (intra- and interreligiosity) have significant effects on the tax compliance behaviour of firms, but the influence of intrareligiosity is insignificant. Estimations in Model 3 suggest that taxpaying attitudes without the moderating influence of religiosity exerted a significant effect on tax compliance behaviour by 13%, while taxpaying attitudes with the moderating influence of religiosity exerted 17%. Estimations in Model 4 suggest that taxpaying attitudes with the moderating influence of the interreligiosity dimension had a more significant contribution to the changes in tax compliance behaviour than the intrareligious dimension. Research limitations/implications From the findings, the following policy implications can be deduced: (i) if taxpayers’ attitudes improved and religiosity was leveraged by the tax authorities, tax compliance behaviour of entrepreneurial firms would be induced in Nigeria; (ii) the consistent positive influence is a strong indication that religious values are critical elements of tax compliance interventions that should be considered by policymakers when designing public policies on tax evasion and avoidance in developing countries. Originality/value We bridge the gaps in the literature because our study affirmed that taxes are religiously driven. In addition, the study validates the applicability of theory of planned behaviour in investigating the moderating influence of religiosity on the causality between taxpaying attitude and tax compliance in the developing context.

Are political connections beneficial or harmful toward firms’ performance? A meta-analysis approach

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Khusnul Prasetyo ◽  
Damai Nasution
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Performance Measures ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Political Connections ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Country Comparison ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Cross Country

Purpose This study aims to reconcile conflicting empirical results from prior studies on the association between political connections (PCs) and firms’ performance. Furthermore, it investigates whether the contradictory findings were moderated by the different types of both PCs and firms’ performance measures. This study also makes a cross-country comparison of the empirical evidence to provide more insight. Design/methodology/approach This study used meta-analysis to integrate the previous studies’ findings on the association between PCs and firms’ performance and further investigated the moderators of such association. Findings The findings show that PCs have a positive association with firms’ performance. This result is apparent for both democratic and authoritarian countries, which suggests PCs’ beneficial consequences toward firms’ performance should not be disregarded in both contexts. This study also finds PCs and firms’ performance measures moderate the association between PCs and firms’ performance. Originality/value This study contributes to the stream of research that investigates the association between PCs and firms’ performance. To the best of my knowledge, it is among the first to implement statistical meta-analysis on the aforementioned literature while incorporating a cross-country comparison.

Religion and tax compliance among SMEs in Ghana

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Carsamer ◽  
Anthony Abbam
Keyword(s):  
Emerging Markets ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Tax Evasion ◽  
Questionnaire Survey ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Tax Compliance ◽  
Main Tool ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Level Of Understanding ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this study is to assess the suitability of religion and religiosity in small and medium-scale enterprises’ (SMEs) tax compliance in Ghanaian markets. The current research attempts to obtain insights into the advantages of Ghanaian religious notoriety in tax compliance based on the perceptions of entrepreneurs. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire survey is the main tool used in this research. A total of 472 questionnaires were distributed to SMEs without Ghana revenue authority. Because of self-administered instrument, all the questionnaires were returned for analysis. Findings The results suggest that Ghanaian religious notoriety does not explain SMEs’ tax compliance and that tax evasion is seen as ethical. Institutional, firm and entrepreneurs’ characteristics are important determinants of SMEs’ tax compliance. Practical implications The results of this research paper will help regulators and Ghana Revenue Authority in developing tax compliance education without compromising on religion. Originality/value This paper provides empirical evidence of the suitability of religion and religiosity in emerging markets in general and Ghana in particular and enhances the level of understanding of SMEs’ tax compliance.

Quality of management schools, strength of auditing and reporting standards and tax evasion

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hichem Khlif ◽  
Achraf Guidara
Keyword(s):  
Tax Evasion ◽  
Tax Compliance ◽  
High Strength ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Reporting Standards ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Global Competitiveness ◽  
Legal Enforcement ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between the quality of management schools and tax evasion and tests whether the strength of auditing and reporting standards moderates such a relationship. Design/methodology/approach Tax evasion is measured using the macro-indirect approach based on Schneider, Buehn and Monterngro (2010). The quality of management schools is collected from The Global Competitiveness Report for 2014-2015. Findings On the basis of sample of 137 countries, the authors document that the level of tax evasion is negatively associated with the quality of management schools and the strength of auditing and reporting standards. When the authors distinguish between low- and high-strength of auditing and reporting standards countries, the authors find that the negative and significant association remains stable only for high-strength of auditing and reporting standards countries. Practical implications These results imply that the quality of management schools through its output (managers, fiscal controllers, auditors and businessmen) may increase the tendency of individuals in a given country to comply with tax rules and that legal enforcement may affect the ethical behaviours of these actors with regard to tax evasion. Originality/value The empirical findings have policy implications for governments with high levels of tax evasion since they highlight the importance of the quality of higher educational system in shaping tax compliance behaviour.

Accounting conservatism, corporate governance and political connections

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 288-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nor Farizal Mohammed ◽  
Kamran Ahmed ◽  
Xu-Dong Ji
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Accounting Conservatism ◽  
Political Connections ◽  
Board Independence ◽  
Political Connection ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between accounting conservatism, corporate governance and political connection in listed firms in Malaysia where political influence plays a significant role in the capital market and in many business dealings. Design/methodology/approach By utilizing 824 firm-year observations comprising large listed companies over a period of four years from 2004, this study uses ordinary least squares regression models to investigate the relationship between accounting conservatism, corporate governance and political connections in Malaysia. Multiple measures of conservatism developed by Basu (1997) and Khan and Watts (2009) are employed. Findings The results show evidence of accounting conservatism (bad news being recognized earlier than good news) in Malaysia. Further, the results reveal that better corporate governance structure in terms of board independence is positively associated with accounting conservatism while management ownership is negatively associated with it. However, political connection has a negative moderating effect on the positive relationship between accounting conservatism and board independence. The results also suggest political connections have a positive association with firm’s future performance. Originality/value This study is the first in investigating the effect of political connections on accounting conservatism in Malaysian context and how political connections negatively affect the monitoring role of the corporate boards. By directly measuring political connection and controlling for various corporate governance mechanisms and firm-specific attributes, this study contributes to enhance the authors’ understanding of the political influence in financial reporting quality and firm performance in an emerging market setting.

Corporate political connections, agency costs and audit quality

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 357-374 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arifur Khan ◽  
Dessalegn Getie Mihret ◽  
Mohammad Badrul Muttakin
Keyword(s):  
Agency Costs ◽  
Audit Quality ◽  
Agency Cost ◽  
Political Connections ◽  
Political Connection ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Research Attention ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Big 4 ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The effect of political connections of agency costs has attracted considerable research attention due to the increasing recognition of the fact that political connection influences corporate decisions and outcomes. This paper aims to explore the association between corporate political connections and agency cost and examine whether audit quality moderates this association. Design/methodology/approach A data set of Bangladeshi listed non-financial companies is used. A usable sample of 968 firm-year observations was drawn for the period from 2005 to 2013. Asset utilisation ratio, the interaction of Tobin’s Q and free cash flow and expense ratio are used as alternative proxies for agency costs; membership to Big 4 audit firms or local associates of Big 4 firms is used as a proxy for audit quality. Findings Results show that politically connected firms exhibit higher agency costs than their unconnected counterparts, and audit quality moderates the relationship between political connection and agency costs. The results of this paper suggest the importance of audit quality to mitigate agency problem in an emerging economic setting. Research limitations/implications The findings of this paper could be of interest to regulators wishing to focus regulatory effort on significant issues influencing stock market efficiency. The findings could also inform auditors in directing audit effort through a more complete assessment of risk and determining reasonable levels of audit fees. Finally, results could inform financial statement users to direct investments to firms with lower agency costs. Originality/value To the knowledge of the authors, this study is one of the first to explore the relationship between political connection and agency costs, and the moderating effect of audit quality of this relationship.

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