We examine the association between CEO severance pay (i.e., payment a CEO would receive if s/he is involuntarily terminated) and corporate tax planning activities. We find that CEO severance pay is positively associated with corporate tax planning, consistent with CEO severance pay providing...

The split share structure reform in China aligned the incentive of controlling shareholders with that of minority shareholders by granting trading rights to previously non-tradable shares. We find that the reform increases firms' tax avoidance activities that are value-enhancing. However, the...

We examine the impact of corporate tax avoidance on the price and non-price terms of bank loans. We predict and provide evidence that banks charge lower loan spreads and impose fewer covenant restrictions when firms exhibit greater tax avoidance. These favorable effects are more pronounced for...

We investigate whether corporate tax avoidance is affected by a firm's relationship with its customers. We find a positive association between a firm's tax avoidance and its customers' relationship-specific investments, demonstrating that customers value the cash flow benefits generated by a...

Recent leaks expose corporate offshore vehicles, commonly used for tax evasion purposes but secret to outsiders, to the public. We examine the capital structure consequence of such exogenous leaks. Using a difference-in-differences approach, we document that firms exposed in offshore leaks...

We investigate how marginal corporate tax rate affects corporate policy changes in response to a regulatory credit crunch. With a surge in debt due to a fiscal stimulus after 2008, the Chinese government rolled out the “deleveraging” program in 2015 which, through tightening monetary...