Companies with female CFOs are 17.4pc less likely than other firms to set up tax shelters and less prone overall to ‘push the envelope’ on tax law, says a team led by Bill B. Francis of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute that looked at male-to-female CFO transitions in corporations. Female CFOs’ lower ‘tax aggressiveness’ appears to be a result of their greater risk aversion. Although it’s not clear whether hiring a female CFO, on its own, enhances overall firm value, the researchers point out that tax aggressiveness sometimes leads to large penalties and gives companies a reputation for being poor corporate citizens.

(Source: The Journal of the American Taxation Association)

Published in Dawn, Economic & Business, June 1st, 2015

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