Abstract
Purpose - The study examines how multiple types of owners on boards of listed firms influence the level of tax avoidance according to their distinct social context.
Design/Methodology/Approach – The study used sample of 4037 firm-year observations comprising of non-financial firms listed on Pakistan Stock Exchange over the period 2008-2021. We used the ordinary least squares regression method to test the hypotheses and further employed system generalized method of moments to validate our earlier obtained results.
Findings - Based on Strategic leadership perspective and using lens of social identity theory, we report that lone founder ownership, corporate ownership and institutional ownership is associated with higher tax avoidance, whereas, the family ownership and state ownership is associated with lower tax avoidance, in our sample firms.
Originality - While the empirical literature assumes the owners on the corporate board as a homogenous group, we provide novel evidence considering the heterogeneity of firm ownership structure and their varying influence on firm’s tax management strategy according to their social values and behavior.