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This study examines the association between firm life cycle stages and corporate tax avoidance employing the Dickinson (2011) model of firms’ life cycle stages. Based on a large dataset of U.S. publicly listed firms over the 1987–2013 period, we find that compared to the shake-out stage of a firm’s life cycle, tax avoidance is significantly negatively associated with the growth and maturity stages, and significantly positively associated with the introduction and decline stages of a firm’s life cycle. In fact, we observe a U-shaped pattern in tax avoidance outcomes across the life cycle, consistent with the predictions of both dynamic resource-based dependence and agency theory. Finally, our results are robust to alternative measures of tax avoidance and firms’ life cycle stages.

This study examines whether a firm’s life cycle explains its propensity to engage in corporate tax avoidance. Based on the Dickinson (2011) model of firm life cycle stages and a large dataset of U.S. publicly listed firms over the 1987–2013 period, we find that tax avoidance is significantly positively associated with the introduction and decline stages and significantly negatively associated with the growth and mature stages using the shakeout stage as a benchmark. We observe a U-shaped pattern in tax avoidance outcomes across the various life cycle stages in line with the predictions of dynamic resource-based theory. Our findings are consistent using several robustness checks. Overall, our results show that a firm’s life cycle stage is a significant determinant of tax avoidance.

Using Dickinson (2011) model of firms’ life cycle stages and Demerjian et al. (2012) measure of corporate managerial ability, this study investigates whether corporate managerial ability varies among firm life cycle stages. Evidence from large dataset of U.S. publicly listed firms, we find that compared to the shake-out stage of a firm’s life cycle, managerial ability is significantly positively associated with the growth and maturity stages, and significantly negatively associated with the introduction and decline stages of a firm’s life cycle. In particular, our result consistent with the predictions of both dynamic resource-based dependence and agency theory, that we observe a U-shaped pattern in managerial ability outcomes across the life cycle. Finally, our results are robust to alternative measures of firm life cycle stages, managerial ability, and endogeneity.

This research investigates the association between discretionary disaggregation in mandatory risk disclosures, audit conservatism and the implied cost of capital (ICOE). Based on a sample of 141 financial firms from six GCC countries over the 2007-2011 period, we find that the ICOE is significantly negatively associated with discretionary disaggregation in mandatory market risk disclosures after controlling for firm-specific characteristics and country-specific institutional factors. Further, our interaction term between audit conservatism and firms’ disaggregation in mandatory risk disclosures is negatively associated with the ICOE, particularly for small to medium size firms. These findings are robust to a series of sensitivity tests. Collectively, these results demonstrate that more discretionary disaggregation in risk disclosure provides more private information to investors.

This study examines the association between market risk disclosures (MRDs) and the investment efficiency of financial firms from six emerging markets in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. Based on a sample of 553 firm‐year observations over the 2007–2011 period, we find that MRDs are significantly and negatively associated with both under‐investment and over‐investment and that this association is more pronounced for larger firms. We also find that the association between MRDs and under‐investment is moderated during periods of economic distress such as the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 and that the association between MRDs and over‐investment is magnified during periods of reduced financial distress. Our results are consistent with the idea that MRDs reduce information asymmetry, which ultimately improves investment efficiency. We contribute to the literature in an emerging market context by providing empirical evidence on the association between MRDs and investment efficiency across six emerging GCC capital markets. This study also fills a gap in the literature by providing evidence on the factors affecting the investment efficiency of financial firms.