CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER (CEO) ATTRIBUTES AND TAX AVOIDANCE INSIGHT FROM LISTED NON-FINANCIAL FIRMS IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The study mainly examined the effect of chief executive officers’ attribute on tax avoidance of listed non-financial firms in Nigeria. To achieve this objective, this study specifically tests the hypothesis that chief executive officers’ attributes in the context of chief executive officers’ tenure, chief executive officers’ ownership, chief executive officers’ gender and chief executive officers’ nationality significantly affects tax avoidance over a 10year time frame (2012 – 2021) for non-financial listed firms in Nigeria. This study is anchored on the Upper Echelon Theory noting that the key concept of the upper echelon theory is that the company reflects its chief executive officer. Robust regression analysis technique was employed to test the formulated hypotheses after fulfilling the necessary conditions for obtaining non-spurious regression estimates. Specifically, the result reveals mixed evidence suggesting that the effect of chief executive officers’ attribute on tax avoidance depends on the observed or unobserved traits. Particularly, the result suggests that higher ownership rights owned by the chief executive officer reduces the level of tax avoidance of listed non-finance firms in Nigeria. Therefore, this study recommends among others that to optimize the non-debt tax saving strategy, management must develop a culture within the organization that values responsible tax planning and encourages chief executive officers’ to actively consider the non-debt tax shield as a strategic tool. Further, management team should promote transparency and open communication about tax strategies, ensuring that tax planning is integrated into overall business decision-making processes. Keywords:  Chief Executive Officer Attribute, Tax Avoidance, Robust Regression, Upper Echelon Theory.