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The purpose of this paper is to empirically test whether corporates, via publicly disclosed sentiment and in response to government initiatives such as domestic corporate tax reform measures that address transparency, are beginning to view tax as a fourth dimension of corporate social responsibility (CSR).

To determine whether corporate attitudes towards tax are changing, representations about the corporate entity by a variety of stakeholders and through numerous channels were analysed using Leximancer software. These representations were in response to four distinct Australian domestic tax reform measures instituted during and subsequent to the Australian Government Senate Inquiry into corporate tax avoidance. The use of Leximancer, a data-analysis and mapping software that automates the coding of document text, delineates concepts and identifies themes, is well suited to the nature and size of the data used (Lodhia and Martin, 2011) and ensures the validity and reliability of the results (Dumay, 2014).

This paper provides evidence on the efficacy of global and domestic tax-reform measures that target tax avoidance through transparency. This is demonstrated by a progressive change in corporate attitudes towards tax and suggests a transition, albeit nascent, from the aggregate view to the real entity view of a corporation. As such, this study provides evidence of the inception of a corporate conscience when it comes to tax, whereby tax is instituted as a fourth dimension of CSR.

Using a theoretical framework which adopts the historically accepted views of the firm, the authors argue that a shift from the aggregate view to the real entity view of a corporation will have the following implications: an expansion of the dimensional factors of CSR (economic, social, environmental and tax); a new standard or definition of corporate responsibility which encompasses both legal and moral considerations and has transparency at its core (Narotzki, 2016); and a new outlook where consumers realise that they have the power to influence and demand action from corporates.

This paper uses state-of-the-art software to empirically test the efficacy of global and domestic tax reform measures that target transparency, ultimately providing evidence supporting the adoption of these measures and the recognition of a new dimension of CSR, tax.

This paper aims to investigate the question concerning whether tax incentives motivate companies to be socially responsible. This study, specifically, examines the impact of tax incentives for corporate social responsibility (CSR) on the societal practices of Tunisian companies.

This study uses multiple regression models to assess the effectiveness of tax incentives for companies to take responsible actions. The study was conducted on 71 Tunisian companies operating in different sectors.

The results reveal that there is a negative and significant association between tax incentives and CSR practices. Therefore, there is an inefficient use of these types of incentives.

The results of the study have important implications for investors and regulatory basis wishing to enhance CSR by giving tax incentives. Investment in social responsibility may improve the corporate culture and reduce the conflict in companies.

The theoretical contributions relate mainly to the originality of the conceptual model developed, to the literature review and to the theoretical foundations mobilized. In fact, the originality of this research is justified by the scarcity of previous study dealing with the relationship between tax incentives and CSR. Thus, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first to investigate the impact of tax incentives for CSR on CSR practices.

This study aims to explore how large Australian companies in emission intensive industries perceived the introduction of the Carbon Tax as an approach to carbon emissions regulation and as a tool for accountability. It also investigates the influence of perceptions of the new tax on the internal carbon emissions management practices and the motivations for such actions.

This study draws on transaction cost theory and legitimacy theory to address corporate perceptions, responses and motivations in relation to the Carbon Tax. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 senior managers directly responsible for the carbon emissions management of their companies.

The study found that the Carbon Tax, viewed by the high-emitting companies as a heavy financial burden, had a significant influence on moderating organisational legitimacy seeking behaviours. It is evident that the transaction cost issues in the form of the carbon pricing requirement has led to a change of focus to “management” rather than merely reporting to external stakeholders. This influenced companies to change their behaviour with the potential to internalise previous externalities of carbon pollution.

This research highlights that a pricing signal in emissions regulations is essential in conjunction with external pressures to effectively stimulate emissions management actions in companies. It extends our understanding of legitimacy theory by suggesting that a mandatory pricing mechanism as explained by transaction cost economics has the potential to lead to actual changes in corporate behaviour through a focus on management rather than reporting.

The study highlights the important elements of any effective emissions policy designed to encourage strong emissions management actions from companies. Based on the findings of the study, it is evident that the Carbon Tax was a very effective mechanism in driving emission management actions, despite the general perception that any deficiencies associated with such a price mechanism could have a negative effect on the economy.

Climate change is a critical issue for the modern society and this study discussed a short-lived policy tool in the Australian context that had the potential to change corporate behaviour in relation to carbon management.

This study is among the very few studies that have examined the influence of the Carbon Tax on internal emissions management practices of companies, and therefore, provides a unique dataset of corporate responses to the Carbon Tax. Given the short time frame that the Carbon Tax was in operation, the study enhances our understanding of the influence the Carbon Tax had on companies responsible for high greenhouse gas emissions.

This study aims to investigate the role of negative media coverage of environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues in deterring tax avoidance. Inspired by media agenda-setting theory and legitimacy theory, this study hypothesises that an increase in ESG negative media coverage should cause a reputational drawback, leading companies to reduce tax avoidance to regain their legitimacy. Hence, this study examines a novel channel that links ESG and taxation.

This study uses panel regression analysis to examine the relationship between negative media coverage of ESG issues and tax avoidance among the largest European entities. This study considers different measures of tax avoidance and negative media coverage.

The results show that negative media coverage of ESG issues is negatively associated with tax avoidance, suggesting that media can act as an external monitor for corporate taxation.

The findings have implications for policymakers and regulators, which should consider tax transparency when dealing with ESG disclosure requirements. Tax disclosure should be integrated into ESG reporting.

The study has social implications related to the media, which act as watchdogs for firms’ irresponsible practices. According to this study’s findings, increased media pressure has the power to induce a better alignment between declared ESG policies and tax strategies.

This study contributes to the literature on the mechanisms that discourage tax avoidance and the literature on the relationship between ESG and taxation by shedding light on the role of media coverage.

This study examines the impact of expanded geographical disclosures on nonprofessional investor judgments. Public country-by-country reporting (CBCR) is a way to increase corporate transparency, enhancing tax fairness and accountability (European Commission, 2016). Public disclosure would make large multinational companies share information about profits, taxes paid, and number of employees on a per-country basis. However, it is unclear whether nonprofessional investors would even use CBCR and how they would interpret the information. Adding to the policy debate on whether publicly available country-by-country information will be properly used, this study employs an experimental design to investigate the effect of disclosure availability and content on nonprofessional investor judgments. We find that participants receiving an expanded disclosure are able to more accurately assess the state of the social contract between the organization and society, imposing sanctions if necessary. Exploring CBCR provides timely evidence to regulators, standard setters, and tax fairness campaigners on the impact of expanded geographical disclosures as a means of increasing transparency and improving competitiveness.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically test legitimacy theory by comparing the corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosures of tax aggressive corporations with those of non‐tax aggressive corporations in Australia.

A unique sample of 20 Australian corporations accused by the Australian Taxation Office of engaging in tax aggressive activities during the 2001‐2006 period was hand‐collected. These 20 tax aggressive corporations were then matched with 20 non‐tax aggressive corporations (based on industry classification, corporation size and time period). This process generated a choice‐based sample of 40 corporations for empirical analysis. Using content analysis techniques, financial accounting data were gathered from the Aspect‐Huntley database and CSR disclosures were individually measured for each corporation in the sample. Various statistical techniques were then used (e.g. paired sample statistics, Pearson correlation analysis and ordinary least squares regression analysis) to test legitimacy theory.

Overall, the empirical results consistently show a positive and statistically significant association between corporate tax aggressiveness and CSR disclosure, thereby confirming legitimacy theory in the context of corporate tax aggressiveness.

The paper provides empirical evidence in support of legitimacy theory as an explanation for why specific corporations disclose more CSR‐related information than others. Additionally, to the best of the authors' knowledge, the paper is one of the first to document an empirical association between corporate tax aggressiveness and CSR in the literature.

This study aims to investigate the association between corporate tax avoidance and environmental costs and disclosure in Indonesia and Australia for the research period 2015–2019. This study also analyzes corporate strategies for overcoming public concerns about tax avoidance activities, namely, the trade-off legitimacy and risk reduction strategies, through two mechanisms: the mediation and moderation roles of environmental disclosure on the relationship between environmental costs and tax avoidance activities.

The data consists of 675 and 235 observations for Australia and Indonesia, respectively, which were analyzed quantitatively using panel regression.

The results showed that the trade-off legitimacy or risk reduction strategies are not found to be implemented by companies in Indonesia, while in Australia, corporations use the trade-off legitimacy strategy to reduce risk and overcome the negative impact of tax avoidance activities. The results also provide empirical evidence on the impact of environmental costs on environmental disclosure in both countries.

This study contributes to the literature by providing the latest evidence on the role of environmental costs on environmental disclosure, which has rarely been investigated in previous studies.

Constructing a theory of the legitimacy of groups, especially groups that mobilize the resources of their own members and provide pure or impure public goods such as collective action, raises some questions not encountered by theories of the legitimacy of acts, persons, or positions. Among these are: First, groups are typically nested in other groups. Groups nested in other groups may differ from each other both in their situations of action and in the larger social framework of norms, values, beliefs, practices, and procedures that guide action in them; or, in other words, in the two chief sources of their legitimacy. Does this pose a problem for the legitimacy of groups? If it does, with what consequences and under what conditions? Second, groups that mobilize the resources of their members for the purpose of providing them with pure or impure public goods have problems of both agency and collective action. Problems of agency and collective action make compliance with the claims made by the group on the resources of its members problematic. Even those willing to comply with them may be deterred by fear of the opportunism of others. Under what conditions do those who would be willing to comply were it not for fear of opportunism by others actually comply? Third, legitimacy is in some sense a resource. It is a characteristic instrumental to the mobilization of resources by a group. But is it a resource like any other? Absent land, labor, capital, technology or organization, does it matter how much legitimacy a group has? If not, what is the relation between legitimacy and resources?

This paper aims to explore current trends in how companies disclose climate-related risks and opportunities in their financial statements. As part of the authors’ analysis, they examine: whether forward-looking assumptions and judgements are typically considered in reporting climate-related risks/opportunities; whether there are differences in the reporting practices of firms in carbon-intensive industries versus non-carbon-intensive industries; and whether negative media reports have an influence on the levels of disclosure a firm makes.

The authors chose content analysis as their methodology and examined the financial statements published by firms listed on the UK’s FTSE 100 between 2016 and 2020. This analysis is framed by Suchman’s three dimensions of legitimacy, being pragmatic, cognitive and moral.

Climate-related disclosures in the notes and financial accounts of these firms did increase over the period. Yet, overall, the level the disclosures was inadequate and the quality was inconsistent. From this, the authors conclude that pragmatic legitimacy is not a particularly strong driving factor in compelling organisations to disclose climate-related information. The firms in carbon-intensive industries do provide greater levels of disclosure, including both qualitative and quantitative (monetary) content, which is consistent with cognitive legitimacy. However, from a moral legitimacy perspective, this study finds that firms did not adapt responsively to negative media coverage as a way of reflecting their accountability to broader public norms and values. Overall, this analysis suggests that regulatory enforcement and a systematic reporting framework with adequate guidance is going to be critical to developing transparent climate-related reporting in future.

This paper contributes to existing studies on climate-related disclosures, which have mainly examined the ‘front-half’ of annual reports. Conversely, this study aims to shed light on these practices in the “back-half” of these reports, exploring the underlying reasons for reporting climate-related risks and opportunities in financial accounts. The authors’ insights into the current disclosure practices make a theoretical contribution to the literature. Practitioners can also draw on these insights to improve how they report on climate-related risks and opportunities in their financial statements.

The purpose of this paper is to consider the ethical and environmental implications of allowing space resource extraction to disrupt existing fuel economies, including how companies can be held accountable for ensuring the responsible use of their space assets. It will also briefly consider how such assets should be taxed, and the cost/benefit analyses required to justify the considerable expense of supporting this emerging space industry.

This paper adopts theoretical bioethics methodologies to explore issues of normative ethics and the formulation of moral rules to govern individual, collective and institutional behaviour. Specifically, it considers social justice and social contract theory, consequentialist and deontological accounts of ethical evaluation. It also draws on sociological and organisational literature to discuss Dowling and Pfeffer’s (1975) and Suchman’s (1995) theories of pragmatic, cognitive and moral legitimacy as they may be applied to off-world mining regulations and the handling of space assets.

The findings of this conceptual paper indicate there is both a growing appetite for tighter resource extraction regulations to address climate change and wealth concentration globally, and an opportunity to establish and legitimise new ethical norms for commercial activity in space that can avoid some of the challenges currently facing fossil fuel divestment movements on Earth.

By adopting methodologies from theoretical bioethics, sociology and business studies, including applying a legitimacy lens to the issue of off-world mining, this paper synthesises existing knowledges from these fields and brings them to the new context of the future space resource economy.