Using data on Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI), we find a positive relationship between higher tax burden and OECD residents' tax evasion, especially via tax havens. Contrary to established investor preference for certain country characteristics, we find they are less important to tax evaders who value privacy and want to remain undetected by their home tax authorities. We find very limited evidence that OECD Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAS) reduce tax evasion, controlling for other determinants of overall OECD FPI. Without the US in the OECD sample, tax havens play a lesser role and OECD policies appear to make a marginal impact.Keywords: tax haven, tax evasion, foreign portfolio investment, tax information exchange agreements, OECD JEL classification: F38, G38, H26We thank John Doukas and an anonymous referee for very helpful comments and suggestions on an earlier draft.

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We examine how cultural differences between bidder and target countries impact internalization benefits in cross-border takeovers. The value of internalizing intangible assets may increase if cultural differences create high transaction costs. On the other hand, integration difficulties between culturally distant acquirers and targets may reduce the value of internalization. Our results show that greater cultural distance (CD) has a positive influence on the long-run performance of bidders with high intangibles, suggesting that significant internalization benefits from technological know-how are realized when CD is great. These findings highlight the importance of national culture when examining internalization benefits in cross-border mergers.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the interaction between legal origin and cultural distance and its impact on foreign direct investment (FDI) flows into the OECD. Design/methodology/approach Ordinary least squares regression analysis is used to evaluate FDI flows into OECD countries between 2003 and 2012. Estimations use fixed effects and clustered standard errors. Findings FDI flows from civil to common law countries are greater than vice versa. Further, cultural distance impacts FDI flows depending on the legal origin of the source country. Specifically, more FDI flows from civil and common law countries, when the host country has a higher (lower) power distance (individualism) score. Civil law countries send more FDI into countries with higher masculinity, uncertainty avoidance and indulgence scores and with lower long-term orientation scores. The opposite is the case with common law source countries. The findings remain robust for various changes to the sample selection. Research limitations/implications The concepts of cultural distance and legal origin have been criticized. However, neither concept has been rejected; rather, both concepts persist as robust empirical research tools. Practical implications Scholars, managers and investors can gauge the impact of cultural distance on FDI flows based on the legal family of the source country. Further, policy makers might want to consider rebranding their countries in terms of cultural perceptions to show the attractiveness of specific cultural dimensions to foreign companies and investors. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper that jointly investigates FDI, legal origin and national culture.

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