No abstract

This study examines tax, financial reporting, and tunneling incentives on the transfer pricing decisions of Chinese-listed companies. We use the relative gross profit ratios of related- and unrelated-party transactions to measure transfer pricing strategies. We find evidence supporting the view that transfer pricing is used to (i) increase a listed firm’s profits as the corporate income tax rate decreases, (ii) increase a listed firm’s profits if its management’s compensation is determined by reference to reported profits, and (iii) decrease a listed firm’s profits as the percentage of shares owned by the government increases (i.e., the tunneling effect). For those firms that face both tax and tunneling incentives we find that the incentives tend to offset each other such that there is no discernable earnings management.

Prior literature provides mixed and relatively little evidence on the economic consequences of related-party transactions. We examine a hitherto underexplored issue of whether transactions among firms within the same business group increase or reduce firm value. Using a large sample of Chinese listed firms, we find that related-party sales increase firm value. However, this value enhancement disappears for firms with (i) large percentage of parent directors, (ii) high government ownership, or (iii) tax avoidance incentives that often couple with management's rent extraction activities. Although we find that intragroup sales improve firm value in general, we also find that corporate insiders use intragroup sales to deprive value from minority shareholders. Overall, our findings highlight the interplay between ownership structure and tax avoidance incentives in determining the economic consequences of related-party transactions.We are especially grateful to the editor (Sidney Gray) and the anonymous referee for their insightful and constructive suggestions. We also thank Michael Firth, Clive Lennox, and seminar participants at the 36th EAA

No abstract

No abstract