This study investigates whether corporate tax avoidance can benefit shareholders when external capital market frictions are high. Using the TED spread as an exogenous shock to firm financial constraint, the study documents that firms tend to reduce their effective tax rates more aggressively when external financing is very costly. This negative relation is stronger in industries more sensitive to TED. Furthermore, we find that the positive effect of TED on tax avoidance is more pronounced within firms with good corporate governance. Our final analyses suggest that the tax-savings during the time of high external market frictions positively affect firm value and the positive effect on firm value is stronger within firms with good corporate governance.

本研究调查了当外部资本市场摩擦高时，公司避税是否可以使股东受益。使用 TED 利差作为对公司财务约束的外生冲击，该研究表明，当外部融资成本非常高时，公司往往会更积极地降低其有效税率。这种负相关在对 TED 更敏感的行业中更为强烈。此外，我们发现 TED 对避税的积极影响在公司治理良好的公司中更为明显。我们的最终分析表明，在外部市场摩擦高的时期节税对公司价值产生积极影响，并且对公司价值的积极影响在公司治理良好的公司中更强。