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Tax avoidance and ESG disclosure mandates: international evidence

Sadok El Ghoul et al.

Journal of International Business Studies2026https://doi.org/10.1057/s41267-026-00846-xarticle
FT50UTD24AJG 4*ABDC A*
Weight
0.50

Abstract

This paper examines how regulations mandating environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure affect corporate tax behavior. Using a difference-in-differences analysis on a sample of firms from 48 countries, we find that ESG disclosure mandates lead to significant reductions in tax avoidance, with stronger effects for mandates that include tax-relevant provisions. We identify increases in ESG information transparency and improvements in firms’ ESG performance as channels through which ESG disclosure mandates reduce tax avoidance. We further find that the decrease in tax avoidance following ESG disclosure mandates is more pronounced in countries with weaker financial disclosure requirements, legal and tax enforcement, and environmental and social institutions. Collectively, the evidence suggests that non-financial disclosure regulations can curb aggressive tax behavior, supporting broader goals of corporate accountability and sustainable development.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1057/s41267-026-00846-x

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@article{sadok2026,
  title        = {{Tax avoidance and ESG disclosure mandates: international evidence}},
  author       = {Sadok El Ghoul et al.},
  journal      = {Journal of International Business Studies},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1057/s41267-026-00846-x},
}

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Tax avoidance and ESG disclosure mandates: international evidence

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.