ABSTRACT Our study examines how two aspects of employees’ workplace environment, the effort they expend and the recognition they receive for doing so, influence income tax compliance intentions. We predict and find that when high workplace effort is met (not met) with high recognition from supervisors and customers, employees are significantly more (less) compliant with the cash income derived from their workplace. Given the growing prominence of narcissism and its intuitive links to both workplace dynamics and unethical behavior, we also explore the implications of antagonistic narcissism and agentic narcissism in this setting. Our results show that reactions to effort-recognition dynamics differ across narcissism dimensions, providing new insights into the intersection of workplace experiences, narcissism, and individual tax compliance. Data Availability: Data available upon request from the authors. JEL Classifications: G4; H20; H24; H26.
ABSTRACT Using an integrated reporting setting with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) information alongside financial reporting, we experimentally examine the effects of ESG assurance provider (CPA firm or non-CPA firm) and disclosure of assurance team composition (present or absent disclosure of a multidisciplinary team including assurance practitioners, engineers, and scientists) on investor judgments. Consistent with Source Credibility Theory, limited assurance by either provider, versus no assurance, enhances the credibility of ESG information, increasing investors’ willingness to invest. Next, relative to a non-CPA firm, engaging the financial statement CPA firm for ESG assurance increases willingness to invest due to heightened perceptions of the CPA firm’s moral authority and cognitive authority. Finally, disclosing team composition that highlights multidisciplinary expertise enhances perceptions of cognitive authority for a non-CPA firm, increasing investment willingness to a greater extent than for a CPA firm. Our findings have implications for ESG assurance markets and standard setting. Data Availability: Data are available from the authors upon request.
We investigate whether favorable attitudes toward global justice could increase taxpayers' willingness to be compliant if taxpayers value the redistribution of their tax dollars internationally to reduce poverty. Using a survey of 606 adult taxpayers from India, South Africa, and the United States, we develop and test a theoretical model, grounded in political theory, which identifies several possible antecedents of global justice and shows that global justice attitudes are directly associated with tax compliance intentions. Furthermore, using multigroup analysis by country, we find that this association is nuanced, perhaps due to cultural differences. Compared with exchange equity, which is concerned with domestic redistribution of tax dollars, global justice attitudes are not as potent at influencing tax compliance attitudes. Implications and challenges for tax authorities are discussed.
This paper examines how mixing profit motives into corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives influences employee opportunism. In an online experiment, workers are randomly assigned to one of three employer initiatives: a profit-motivated business initiative with no CSR component, a purely charitable CSR initiative, or a mixed-motive CSR initiative. Workers then complete a real-effort task with the opportunity to shirk. We find that employees shirk more under mixed-motive CSR than under purely charitable CSR or a profit-motivated business initiative without CSR. This pattern is partly explained by differences in employees' moral perceptions of the employer. Workers form more favorable moral perceptions under purely charitable CSR, whereas their moral perceptions under mixed-motive CSR are similar to those formed under the business initiative without CSR. These findings suggest that mixing profit motives in CSR weakens the moral signal of CSR and undermines its internal behavioral benefits.
ABSTRACT Accounting research has shown that management responses to negative news from third parties can mitigate unfavorable investor reactions. The features of management responses that influence investor judgments, however, are unclear. This study investigates how the emphasis of management’s response interacts with the lede of negative media coverage to shape investor perceptions. Using a between-subjects experiment, we find that, when there is alignment between the media lede and management’s response emphasis, investor judgments become more favorable. The alignment enhances the persuasiveness of management’s response, leading investors to believe that the issue is unlikely to have a negative impact on future profitability. Our findings contribute to the literature on management responses by highlighting the effectiveness of aligning a company’s response with negative media coverage. In addition, we extend the psychology literature by demonstrating that the media lede is a key element to which management can tailor its response, thereby influencing investor judgments. Data Availability: Data are available from the authors upon request. JEL Classifications: M41; G11; C91.
