Jenny Brown

About

Jenny Brown is an Associate Professor of Accountancy at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. She received her Ph.D. in 2008 from the University of Texas at Austin and has been with W.P. Carey since then. Her educational background also includes a Master's and Bachelor's degree from the University of Texas at Austin, earned in 1998. Prior to earning her Ph.D., Professor Brown worked for the tax group at PricewaterhouseCoopers in San Jose, California. Her research focuses on how corporate engagement in the political process impacts taxes, and her expertise areas include corporate taxation, aggressive tax reporting, tax shelters, diffusion of corporate practices, interfirm social networks, and the interplay of financial and tax reporting choices. She teaches courses on individual and business taxation to undergraduate accounting and finance majors, including courses on personal tax management and international taxation.

Research topics

• Political Science
• Economics
• Data Mining
• Business
• Computer Science
• Accounting
• Law and economics
• Public economics
• Literature
• Econometrics

Selected publications

• Network Ties Among Low-Tax Firms

  The Accounting Review · 2013-11-01 · 246 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  ABSTRACT This study examines (1) whether network ties help explain variation in tax avoidance, and (2) how the relation between network ties and tax avoidance varies depending on the nature and context of those ties. We posit that information on a range of tax-avoidance strategies is shared among firms through their social network connections. Using board interlocks to proxy for these connections, we find that firms with greater board ties to low-tax firms have lower cash ETRs themselves. Ties t…

  PublisherDOI

• The Benefits of a Relational Approach to Corporate Political Activity: Evidence from Political Contributions to Tax Policymakers

  Journal of the American Taxation Association · 2014-09-01 · 112 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  ABSTRACT Empirical evidence linking campaign financing activity to future firm benefits is mixed. However, theory suggests that an important aspect of a successful political strategy is a multi-period investment in cultivating relationships with key policymakers (Snyder 1992). We examine a specific setting and investigate whether firms that invest in relationships with tax policymakers via campaign contributions accrue greater future tax benefits. We find that firms that pursue a more relational…

  PublisherDOI

• Compensation in the Post‐<scp>FIN</scp> 48 Period: The Case of Contracting on Tax Performance and Uncertainty

  Contemporary Accounting Research · 2015-06-13 · 36 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract Academic and anecdotal evidence indicates that incentive systems often provide short‐term payouts without regard for long‐term consequences. New detailed disclosures mandated by FIN No. 48, Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes, enable us to use a tax setting to investigate whether boards adjust performance‐based pay for uncertainty. We find managers’ bonus payouts are positively associated with tax performance; however, bonus payouts are lower when measures of ex ante tax uncertai…

  PublisherDOI

• Tax-Related Corporate Political Activity Research: A Literature Review

  Journal of the American Taxation Association · 2018-01-01 · 35 citations

  reviewSenior author

  ABSTRACT Academic researchers and the public have long shared an interest in whether and how corporate political activity (CPA) relates to taxes and tax policy. This paper reviews the literature on tax-related CPA. We frame our discussion around three main questions: (1) Which firms are likely to engage in tax-related CPA? (2) What do firms expect to gain from participating in politics? And (3) how do firms achieve their political goals? We highlight contributions made by prior studies and ident…

  PublisherDOI

• Investing in Tax Breaks: Assessing the Outcomes of Political Strategy Choices

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2013-01-01 · 17 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Katharine D. Drake

  University of Arizona

  16 shared

• Laura Wellman

  13 shared

• Melissa Martin

  Children's Healthcare of Atlanta

  5 shared

• John A. Barrick

  3 shared

• Andrew K. Littlefield

  Texas Tech University

  3 shared

• Jason J. Bischof

  The Ohio State University

  3 shared

• Caroline E. Freiermuth

  University of Cincinnati

  3 shared

• Jon E. Sprague

  Bowling Green State University

  3 shared

Education

• Ph.D.

  University of Texas-Austin

  2008

• M.S.

  University of Texas-Austin

  1998

• B.A.

  University of Texas-Austin

  1998

Awards & honors

• 2014 American Taxation Association Outstanding Manuscript Aw…
• 2011 Scott and Mary Donaldson/Ernst & Young Excellence in Te…

Similar researchers at Arizona State University

• Gregory Dawsonh-12
• Lucile Faurelh-12
• Scott Emetth-12