This is Professor Cunningham's Introduction to his renowned edited collection of Warren Buffett's famous letters to shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. The collection was originally prepared for a symposium held in New York City in 1997 and has been regularly updated through five editions,...

This paper provides evidence that keiretsu group member firms are subject to lower effective tax rates than independent firms in Japan. As one explanation for this phenomenon, we develop a hypothesis that keiretsu firms strategically shift financially reported income among affiliates in order to...

We investigate why firms choose to evaluate a tax department as a profit center (“contributor to the bottom line”) as opposed to as a cost center and the association between this choice and effective tax rates (ETRs). Using data from a confidential survey taken in 1999 of Chief Financial...

We investigate whether quarterly annual effective tax rate (ETR) estimates are systematically biased in comparison to year-end actual ETRs. We find that estimated annual ETRs in the first, second, and third quarters are systematically higher than year-end ETRs. We then investigate whether...

We identify a pecuniary externality arising from corporate tax avoidance. Firms share risk with the government via taxation. The lower the tax rate applied to a firm's earnings, the more risk is borne by its shareholders. As more firms engage in avoidance in the aggregate, the variance of the...

We investigate whether low Cash ETRs are associated with two distinct effects — tax avoidance and low earnings quality — and if so, whether the two effects can be separated. Separating these effects is important: if upward earnings management is driving low Cash ETRs, inferences based on tax...

In diesem Beitrag werden sowohl persönliche Steuern des Agenten als auch die vom Prinzipal zu tragende Unternehmenssteuer in ein Agency-Modell des LEN-Typs integriert. Wir analysieren die Auswirkungen dieser Steuern auf die optimale Anreizgestaltung. Für das Grundmodell mit nur einer...

We examine the combined effects of asymmetric taxation and limited liability on optimal risk taking of investors. Given an optimal risk level in the pre-tax case under full liability, loss-offset restrictions reduce, and limited liability enhances the incentives for taking risk. For every degree...

In diesem Beitrag werden sowohl persönliche Steuern des Agenten als auch die vom Prinzipal zu tragende Unternehmenssteuer in ein Agency-Modell des LEN-Typs integriert. Wir analysieren die Auswirkungen dieser Steuern auf die optimale Anreizgestaltung. Für das Grundmodell mit nur einer...

The topic of nonprofit commercialization has received increased attention from various groups including donors, regulators, and researchers. Perhaps the most commercial of all activities undertaken by nonprofits are those considered to be so far removed from an organization's exempt mission that...