CEO ATTRIBUTES AND TAX PLANNING OF LISTED FIRMS ON THE NIGERIA EXCHANGE GROUP
1 Department of Accounting, Faculty of Management Sciences, University of Benin, Benin City
2 Department of Accounting, Faculty of Management Sciences, Ambrose Alli University, Edo State
* Corresponding author: Ernest.oshodin@uniben.edu
2 Department of Accounting, Faculty of Management Sciences, Ambrose Alli University, Edo State
* Corresponding author: Ernest.oshodin@uniben.edu
Abstract
This study investigated the impact of the CEO attributes on corporate tax planning of listed
firms in Nigeria, focusing on such attributes as CEO age, experience, financial expertise, and
gender. The study employed a data set of 264 firm-years of firms listed on the Nigeria Exchange
Group (NGX) over a period of eight (8) years, 2016 to 2023. A panel least squares estimation
was adopted, and the outcome reveals that CEO age is significant but negatively related to tax
planning, implying that as CEO age increased, the firm resorted to less tax planning.
Generalist experiences of CEOs, as measured by the number of board committees they served
on, were shown to be positively and not significantly related to tax planning, indicating that
generalist experience is important for tax planning activities within a company, albeit not
considerably. The CEO's financial expertise has a significant but negative effect on tax
planning; the inference is that as the CEO's financial expertise increases, there is less tax
planning of the firm. CEO gender was shown to have a negative and significant impact on tax
planning. Implying that firms with CEOs as females were less likely to engage in tax planning. In the context of the key findings of this study, it is recommended that regulatory authorities
keen to improve compliance with tax laws and mitigate the avenues for tax avoidance can focus
their efforts on firms with more general experience and CEOs in order to reduce tax planning
strategies of firms.
Keywords
tax avoidance
upper echelon
generalist experience
financial literacy
board diversity
tenure
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How to Cite
Oshodin, E., & Ogbaisi, S. A. (2025). CEO ATTRIBUTES AND TAX PLANNING OF LISTED FIRMS ON THE NIGERIA EXCHANGE GROUP. Kaduna Business and Management Reviews, 6(2), 47-57. https://doi.org/10.68022/kbmr.2025.z7j5x108
E. Oshodin, and S. A. Ogbaisi, "CEO ATTRIBUTES AND TAX PLANNING OF LISTED FIRMS ON THE NIGERIA EXCHANGE GROUP," Kaduna Business and Management Reviews, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 47-57, December 2025. doi: 10.68022/kbmr.2025.z7j5x108