環境、社會與公司治理已逐漸成為投資人與利害關係人評估企業價值與風險的關鍵依據，隨著監管機構對資訊揭露透明度與公司治理要求提升，企業在永續發展上的投入可能改變其財務與租稅決策，同時考量到企業在追求獲利最大化之下，亦面臨聲譽及合規風險的約束，在這樣的背景下，ESG績效可能直接抑制企業從事避稅行為，抑或透過提升經營績效而間接影響其租稅規劃策略，或存在其他調節影響，仍須進一步釐清。
本研究選取台灣上市公司2016年至2024年的資料為樣本，旨在探究資產報酬率於企業ESG表現與避稅行為間所扮演之中介角色，並進一步檢驗ESG表現是否對此中介路徑產生「調節式中介效果」，在指標的衡量上，本研究以ROA作為獲利能力的代理變數，並分別採用永久性財稅差異與裁量性財稅差異作為企業避稅程度的指標，並建構結構方程模型進行聯立估計，進一步採用Sobel檢定和Bootstrap 抽樣方法進行穩健性驗證。
實證研究發現，雖ESG績效對避稅行為的直接影響並不顯著，而ROA在企業ESG與避稅行為間扮演著顯著的完全中介角色，亦即企業ESG績效的提升會帶動ROA的增加，進而擴大企業從事避稅活動的程度，在調節式中介效果方面，ESG並未顯著改變ROA對永久性財稅差異的正向影響；然而，針對較具爭議性的裁量性財稅差異，ESG表現則發揮了顯著的「負向調節作用」，此調節效果在納入ESG滯後項檢驗後依然穩健。

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) considerations have become pivotal for evaluating corporate value and risk. As disclosure requirements intensify, sustainability investments may alter financial and tax decisions. However, mechanisms through which ESG influences tax avoidance—direct, indirect, or moderating—remain unclear.
Drawing on data from Taiwan’s listed companies spanning the period 2016–2024, we examine the mediating role of return on assets (ROA) between ESG performance and tax avoidance, alongside the moderated mediation effect of ESG. To accurately capture tax avoidance, we utilize both permanent and discretionary book–tax differences as proxy variables, estimating the relationships through a structural equation model and confirming robustness via Sobel and Bootstrap tests.
Findings reveal that while ESG does not directly impact tax avoidance, it operates through a complete mediation of ROA, where higher ESG performance drives ROA and subsequently increases tax avoidance. Furthermore, ESG negatively moderates the relation between ROA and discretionary book–tax differences—a result robust to lagged specifications—though it has no significant moderating effect on permanent book–tax differences.
These findings illuminate the complex transmission mechanisms, demonstrating that ESG operates primarily through profitability channels, with its governance functions varying systematically across different tax avoidance types.

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