본 연구는 지속적인 세무전략의 기업일수록 투자효율성이 증가하는지를 실증적으로 규명하는 데 있다. 이전 연구에서는 높은 품질의 재무보고가 투자효율성을 증가시킨다는 증거를 제시하였다(Biddle et al. 2009). 또한 이전 연구들은 현금유효세율에 대한 변동성을 낮추는 지속적인 세무전략의 기업은 이익의 지속성이 높고(McGuire et al. 2013), 더 투명한 정보환경에 있어 기업투명성이 높으며(Neuman et al. 2013), 기업신용등급이 더 높다는 결과를 보고하였다(신상이․박종일 2019). 따라서 본 연구는 선행연구의 범위를 확장시켜 지속적인 세무전략의 기업일수록 투자효율성이 증가하는지를 알아보고자 한다. 이를 알아보기 위해 본 연구는 관심변수인 지속적인 세무전략을 McGuire et al.(2013)의 방법인 과거 5년간으로 측정되는 Cash ETR 또는 GAAP ETR의 변이 계수를 이용하고, 종속변수는 Biddle et al.(2009)의 방법에 따라 비정상 투자수준에 대한 개별기업의 잔차를 추정한 후, 절댓값을 취하여 분석에 이용하였다. 또한 본 연구는 총투자를 설비투자(또는 자본적 지출)와 연구개발비 투자로 나누어 살펴보았다. 분석기간은 2004년부터 2017년까지이고, 유가증권과 코스닥기업을 대상으로 최종표본 9,148개 기업 / 연 자료가 이용되었다. 실증분석 결과는 일정 통제변수를 고려한 후에도 지속적인 세무전략과 투자효율성 간에 양(+)의 관계로 나타났다. 특히 앞서의 결과는 주로 설비투자보다는 연구 개발비 투자에 기인한 것으로 나타났다. 또한 앞서의 관계는 변이계수의 측정방법(예로, Cash ETR, GAAP ETR)에 상관없이 일치된 결과로 나타났고, 전체표본을 KOSPI와 KOSDAQ 표본으로 나누어 분석해도 모두 일관된 증거를 보였다. 이와 달리, 법인세를 최소화하는 조세회피 전략은 투자효율성과 음(-)의 관계로 나타났고, 주로 설비투자보다는 연구개발비에서 나타났다. 이상을 요약하면, 본 연구는 유효세율에 대한 변동성을 낮추는 지속적인 세무전략의 기업은 연구개발비의 투자효율성이 증가하는 반면에, 법인세를 최소화하는 조세회피 전략의 기업은 연구개발비의 투자비효율성이 증가한다는 결과를 비교해 보여 주었다는 데 의의가 있다. 또한 본 연구는 선행연구와 달리 세무 측면의 지속적인 세무전략과 투자효율성 간의 관계를 처음으로 탐구한 연구라는 점에서도 의미가 있다. 특히 본 연구의 발견에서는 지속적인 세무전략이 투자효율성과 양(+)의 관계로 나타나 지속적인 세무전략 정보는 높은 재무보고의 질을 나타내는 신뢰할만한 지표임을 시사해 주고 있다.
This study examines how sustainable tax strategies relates to firm-level investment efficiency. “Sustainable tax strategies” is the dimension of a firm’s tax strategy that focuses on maintaining consistent tax outcomes over time (McGuire et al. 2013). Prior research indicates that firms with sustainable tax strategies experience more persistent, hence more predictable, earnings (McGuire et al. 2013). Neuman et al. (2013) provide preliminary evidence that firms with sustainable tax strategies have more transparent information environments as well as corporate transparency. Shin and Park (2019) shows that firms with sustainable tax strategies is positively associated with firms’ credit rating. In addition, prior studies suggest that higher-quality financial reporting should increase investment efficiency (e.g., Biddle and Hilary 2006;Biddle et al. 2009). Therefore, I link and extend this line of two research, this study investigates whether firms with sustainable tax strategies improves investment efficiency. For comparison, I also investigate whether the firms with minimization tax strategies is associated with investment efficiency. For analysis, I construct a measure of sustainable tax strategy (hereafter STS) using the coefficient of variation for cash (GAAP) ETRs over a five-year period (i.e., t to t - 4) following McGuire et al. (2013). Firms with low variability report a narrow range of cash (GAAP) ETRs over time, which suggests they emphasize a sustainable tax strategy. To measure minimization tax strategies (i.e., tax avoidance), I use long-term the cash (GAAP) ETR measured as the five-year period following Dyreng et al. (2008). The dependent variable of this study is investment efficiency. I measure this variable following Biddle et al. (2009). This is, the primary dependent variable in my analysis is the absolute value of the abnormal investment (hereafter INV, CAPEX and R & D), so a higher value will indicate a higher investment inefficiency. I construct a sample of firm-year observations from 2004~2017 with data in both KOSPI and KOSDAQ listed firms, final sample is 9,148 firm-year observations. Empirical results reveal the following. First, the dependent variable is total investment, I find that the negative and significant coefficients on STS at the 1% level in all specifications of the model. This results lend support to hypothesis that firms with sustainability tax strategies is positively associated with firms’ investment efficiency. Second, as a additional test, I further examine the effects of firms with sustainable tax strategies on each of capital investment (CAPEX) and research and development investment (R & D), and evaluate whether this paper conclusions are driven by either or both types of investment. when the dependent variable is R & D investment, I find that firms with sustainable tax strategies is positively associated with investment efficiency at the 1% level. However, I do not find a significant association between firms with sustainable tax strategies and investment efficiency. In other words, the results for R & D is consistent with what I find for the total investment. Therefore, earlier my results is driven by R & D investment efficiency. These results are robust to alternative measures of cash ETR and GAAP ETR. Furthermore, my results is robust whenI divided the sample into KOSPI and KOSDAQ firms are quantitatively similar. Meanwhile, when the dependent variable is R & D investment, I find that firms with minimization tax strategies is positively associated with investment inefficiency at the 1% level. In summary, my results show that the sustainability of a firm’s tax strategy over time increases a firm’s R & D investment efficiency, whereas firms with minimization tax strategies increases a firm’s R & D investment inefficiency. Therefore, my results suggest that the sustainability of firms’ tax strategies are associated with lower over- or under-investment. My findings provide more direct evidence on the positive relation between sustainable tax strategies and investment efficiency. Specially, my results suggest that sustainable tax strategies indicates higher overall financial reporting quality. Further, this is the first research to address the association between investment efficiency and sustainable tax strategies. Therefore, my results can provide novel and additional evidence to the related research (i.e., sustainable tax strategies, investment efficiency, and financial reporting quality).