Financial expertise and corporate tax avoidance

Abstract

This study examines financial expert CEOs as one of the determinants of corporate tax avoidance. We conjecture that financial sophistication motivates CEOs to approach tax avoidance as an investment. We investigate the relationship between financial expert CEOs and tax avoidance both at the conditional mean and across tax avoidance distribution. Consistent with our conjecture, we find that financial expert CEOs are associated with a more aggressive tax avoidance policy. Further, our results indicate that the impact of financial expert CEOs results from a careful analysis of cost and benefit.