Corporate social responsibility of U.S.‐listed firms headquartered in tax havens

Dongyoung Lee

Strategic Management Journal, 2020, vol. 41, issue 9, 1547-1571

Abstract: Research Summary Using 138 firm‐year observations for 46 U.S.‐listed firms headquartered in tax havens from 2004 to 2013, this study employs a matched‐sample design and documents that the level of corporate social responsibility (CSR) engagement is relatively lower for firms with tax haven headquarters (HQ) than for those with U.S. HQ. This result is robust to the use of firm philanthropy as a measure of CSR engagement and holds true in an environment with high CSR expectations from U.S. communities. In an alternative setting of HQ relocations within the United States, we use a difference‐in‐differences methodology and find that when firms move their HQ to states with lower corporate income taxes, they decrease the level of CSR engagement. Overall findings are consistent with corporate culture theory. Managerial Summary This article examines CSR engagement of U.S.‐listed firms headquartered in tax havens. Using data from 2004 to 2013, we find that firms with tax haven HQ exhibit a relatively lower level of CSR engagement than otherwise similar firms headquartered in the United States. In the same vein, tax‐haven‐headquartered firms tend to give less to charity, even when they face high CSR expectations from U.S. communities. In an alternative setting of HQ relocations within the United States, we document that the level of corporate social engagement is more likely to drop for firms that move their HQ to lower‐tax regions. We interpret our findings as evidence of corporate culture affecting both the tax avoidance and CSR activities of firms headquartered in tax havens.

Date: 2020
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