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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the direct and indirect relationship between board gender diversity and corporate tax avoidance using corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a mediating variable.

This study uses a panel dataset of 200 French firms listed during 2007–2018 period. The direct and indirect effects between board gender diversity (BGD) and tax avoidance were tested by using structural equation model analysis.

The results indicate that the presence of women on corporate boardrooms negatively affects tax avoidance. The greater the proportion of women in boards, the lower the likelihood of tax avoidance practice. In the mediation test, CSR appears to partially mediate the link between women on boards and corporate tax avoidance. Additional analysis shows that the social dimension of CSR produces this mediating effect.

The results have practical implications for companies in regulating the composition of their boards. To benefit from diversity, firms have to increase women‘s percentage in their boards of directors. Also, investors are encouraged to pay attention to the percentage of female directors when investing and purchasing shares.

This study proved empirically that the higher proportion of female directors significantly reduces the possibility of tax avoidance either directly or indirectly through enhancing CSR performance. The findings show that firms with gender diversified boards are more likely to get involved in CSR for hedging against the potential consequences of aggressive tax avoidance practices. In light of the above results, firms are well-advised to strongly apply the policy encouraging or mandating women as board members to take advantage of their expected benefits.

The originality of this paper consists in proposing the establishment of both direct and indirect relationships between BGD and corporate tax avoidance through CSR. Unlike prior studies that have been examining the direct relationship between corporate governance mechanisms and corporate tax avoidance, this study went further to investigate the indirect relationship between these two constructs. This study also differs from prior studies as it examines the effect of BGD on each of constituting pillars of CSR, namely, environmental, social and governance. To date, an extensive part of CSR research has used the combined score of CSR, but the effects on different CSR pillars remain little investigated.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between some corporate characteristics, audit quality and managerial entrenchment in Tunisian companies.

The multivariate regression model is used for hypothesis testing using a sample of 224 listed observations on Tunisian Stock Exchange during 2014–2020. An exploratory factor analysis of four variables (chief executive officer (CEO) duality, CEO tenure, CEO seniority and CEO age) is used for calculating a unique index assessing the managerial entrenchment.

The results show a negative and significant relationship between audit quality and managerial entrenchment. The authors also find that firm characteristics affect management entrenchment. Precisely, corporate financial performance and firm leverage show positive connections with managerial entrenchment (ME). Additional analysis confirms the negative impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on managerial entrenchment level.

The study’s findings have practical implications that may be useful to different stakeholders, policymakers and regulatory bodies interested in reducing management entrenchment. This study offers signals to shareholders about specific governance attributes, namely audit quality, that control the extent of manager's entrenchment.

The originality of this paper consists in focusing on developing countries, namely the Tunisian context; while the managerial entrenchment phenomena has been widely examined in developed markets. Moreover, contrary to the overwhelming majority of previous studies that has used individual indexes for evaluating the entrenchment, the authors calculate a mixed index of managerial entrenchment using the principal component analysis based on four governance mechanisms (CEO duality, CEO age, CEO seniority and CEO tenure).

The purpose of this paper is to study how CEO power impact corporate tax avoidance. In particular, this paper aims to empirically examine the moderating impact of institutional ownership on the relationship between CEO power and corporate tax avoidance.

The multivariate regression model is used for hypothesis testing using a sample of 308 firm-year observations of Tunisian listed companies during the 2013-2019 period.

The results show that CEO power is negatively associated with corporate tax avoidance and that institutional ownership significantly accentuates the CEO power’s effect on corporate tax avoidance. This implies that CEOs, when monitored by institutional investors, behave less opportunistically resulting in less tax avoidance.

Our findings have significant implications for managers, legislators, tax authorities and shareholders. They showed that CEO duality, tenure and ownership can mitigate the corporate tax avoidance in Tunisian companies. These findings can, hence, guide the development of future regulations and policies. Moreover, our results provide evidence that owning of shares by institutional investors is beneficial for reducing corporate tax avoidance. Thus, policymakers and regulatory bodies should consider adding regulations to the structure of corporate ownership to promote institutional ownership and consequently control corporate tax avoidance in Tunisian companies.

This study differs from prior studies in several ways. First, it addressed the emerging market, namely the Tunisian one. Knowing the notable differences in institutional setting and corporate governance structure between developed and emerging markets, this study will shed additional light in this area. Second, it proposes the establishment of a moderated relationship between CEO power and corporate tax avoidance around institutional ownership. Unlike prior studies that only examined the simple relationship between CEO power and corporate tax avoidance, this study went further to investigate how institutional ownership potentially moderates this relationship.

This paper aims to investigate the direct and indirect relationship between CEO compensation and earnings management using corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a mediating variable.

This study examines 159 French firms listed on the SBF 250 index, encompassing 1,908 firm-year observations from 2011 to 2022, to investigate the relationship between CEO compensation, CSR and earnings management. We used discretionary accruals as the earnings management measure, under the Kothariet al. model (2005). The direct and indirect effects between CEO compensation and earnings management were tested using structural equation model analysis.

The results reveal that CEO compensation positively influences earnings management. Higher CEO compensation is associated with a greater likelihood of engaging in earnings management practices. CSR was found to partially mediate the relationship between CEO compensation and corporate earnings management. Further analysis indicates that the social and environmental dimensions of CSR contribute significantly to this mediating effect.

The study’s focus on the French institutional context may limit the generalizability of the findings to other regions. In addition, the relatively small sample size, given the limited number of publicly listed firms in France, suggests that extending the study to include other European countries could enhance the robustness of the results.

The findings have practical implications for companies, policymakers and regulators seeking to curb opportunistic managerial behavior. Regulators can develop policies that promote transparency and ethical financial reporting, leveraging CSR as a governance tool to curb earnings manipulation.

This study highlights the ethical concerns of excessive CEO compensation, which may incentivize earnings management and undermine financial transparency. It emphasizes the need for strong CSR practices, particularly in the social and environmental dimensions, to mitigate these issues and align corporate behavior with societal and sustainability goals.

The originality of this paper lies in its exploration of both direct and indirect relationships between CEO compensation and earnings management, with CSR acting as a mediating variable. Unlike previous studies that have primarily focused on the direct link between CEO compensation and earnings management, this research investigates the potential mediating role of CSR in this relationship. In addition, this study distinguishes itself by examining the impact of the structure of CEO compensation on earnings management. While the existing literature has concentrated on total CEO compensation, the effects of its individual components such as fixed and variable compensation remain underexplored.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the direct and indirect relationship between institutional ownership and corporate tax avoidance using corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a mediating variable.

This study uses panel data set of 200 French firms listed during the 2007–2018 period. The direct and indirect effects between managerial ownership and tax avoidance were tested by using structural equation model analysis.

The results indicate that institutional ownership negatively affects tax avoidance. The greater the proportion of the institutional ownership, the lower the likelihood of tax avoidance usage. From the result of the Sobel test, this study indicated that CSR partially mediates the effect of institutional ownership on corporate tax avoidance.

The findings have some policy and practical implications that may help regulators in improving the quality of transactions and in achieving more efficient market supervision. They recommend to the government to add regulations and restrictions to the structure of corporate ownership to control corporate tax avoidance in French companies.

This study extends the existing literature by examining both the direct and indirect effect of institutional ownership on corporate tax avoidance in French companies by including CSR as a mediating variable.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relation between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and firm financial performance, and how audit quality moderates this relationship.

This study uses panel dataset of 200 French firms listed during 2007–2018 period. The direct and moderating effects were tested by using multiple regression technique.

The authors find that CSR has a positive impact on firm financial performance proxy with return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE) and Tobin's Q (TQ), suggesting that investment in social activities helps firms to achieve better financial results. The authors also find that the improvement effect of CSR on corporate financial performance is more pronounced for firms audited by Big 4 auditors.

One limit of this study is the selection of independent variables. We are limited to one variable, namely CSR engagement. Further studies may consider other independent variables, such as the age of the company, the type of industry, the composition of the board of directors, etc., in order to provide an in-depth analysis of corporate financial performance drivers.

The findings have practical implications that may be useful to managers in their management of the firm. They encourage all board members to seriously weigh investing in developing strategies that promote the social behavior components in order to improve overall corporate performance.

The research adds to the current literature on CSR by revealing the impact of external auditor quality on the CSR–financial performance relationship. In addition, it investigates not only the overall CSR ratings but also each of CSR dimensions, namely environmental, social and governance.

The purpose of this paper is to study how board attributes impact corporate social responsibility (CSR). In particular, this paper aims to empirically examine the impact of financial performance on the relationship between board attributes and CSR. Board attributes such as board size, board independence, female board representation and CEO-chair duality are included.

This study uses panel data set of 200 French companies listed during 2007–2018 period. The direct and moderating effects were tested by using multiple regression technique.

The results indicate that significant direct relationships exist among board attributes and CSR. Board independence and female board representation are positively linked with CSR. However, board size and CEO duality are negatively associated with CSR. Findings show, also, that corporate financial performance accentuates significantly the effect of board size, board independence and CEO-duality on CSR, but does not moderate the relationship between female board representation and CSR.

The findings may be of interest to different stakeholders and policy-makers and regulatory bodies interested in enhancing CG initiatives to strengthen corporate social responsibility because it suggests thinking about implementing a broadly accepted framework of good CG practices to meet the demand for greater transparency and accountability. As an extension to this research, further study can examine the impact of ownership structure and audit quality on CSR issues.

This study extends the dynamic relationship between CG mechanisms and CSR by offering new evidence on how corporate financial moderates this relationship.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between ownership structure and corporate social responsibility (CSR). Specifically, this paper examines the impact of financial performance on the relationship between ownership structure and CSR.

This study uses panel data set of 200 French firms listed during 2007–2018 period. The direct and moderating effects were tested by using multiple regression technique.

The results indicate that investors have different attitudes toward CSR engagement. While institutional ownership affects positively CSR engagement, managerial ownership shows a negative effect. Findings also show that financial performance accentuates these effects.

The findings have practical implications that may be useful to regulators and managers interested in enhancing CSR. For regulators, the results advise policymakers to restrict managerial ownership and promote institutional investments to improve CSR. For managers, the results suggest developing more sophisticated intervention mechanisms to deal with conflicting voices that could result from different owners’ attitudes toward CSR. As an extension to this research, further study can examine the impact of audit quality on CSR.

This study proposes the establishment of dynamic links between ownership structure and CSR around firm financial performance. In addition, it investigates not only the overall CSR ratings but also each of CSR pillars, namely, environmental, social and governance.