The influence of corporate social responsibility on the level of corporate tax avoidance

This thesis empirically studies the relation between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate tax avoidance. Based on a sample of 3304 observations between 2002 and 2014, I find that the CSR score of companies is negatively related to their effective tax rate. This indicates that on average, responsible companies are more involved in tax avoidance activities compared to less responsible companies. This result is robust against different sets of control variables. The results of this thesis are contrary towards previous research, where most studies find a negative relation between CSR and tax avoidance. In addition, I examine how four dimensions of CSR are related to corporate tax avoidance and I find that economic performance and environmental performance are positive significant related towards tax avoidance. This indicates that shareholder and client loyalty, as well as resource and emission reduction, relate to a higher extent of corporate tax avoidance