As CFOs, women are less aggressive in reducing taxes
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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