An Exploratory Study on the Influence of Family CEOs on Tax Aggressiveness in Private Family Firms: The Moderating Role of CEO Gender and Survival Risk

The main purpose of this study is to investigate tax aggressiveness within private family firms. Drawing on the socioemotional wealth perspective, we hypothesize that the presence of a family CEO is negatively related to tax aggressiveness. Furthermore, we argue that the family CEO-tax aggressiveness relationship is moderated by individual- and firm-level factors. Specifically, we argue that the female gender of the CEO reinforces the negative impact of family CEOs on tax aggressiveness, whereas survival risk weakens the negative influence of having a family member at the helm of the company on tax aggressive strategies. Based on a balanced panel dataset of 1,953 observations, the results confirm our predictions and the validity of the socioemotional wealth model as an appropriate theoretical lens to explain tax aggressiveness across private family firms.