Does corporate tax avoidance change as a result of the bilateral matching between incubators and incubated enterprises?- A mediating impact based on budgetary restrictions

Abstract Incubators play a significant role in fostering the healthy and long-term growth of entrepreneurial firms since they serve as the "policy umbrella" for business owners. This study examines the effects of "incubator-incubated enterprises" bilateral matching on corporate tax evasion and explores the mediating role of financial restrictions using the companies listed on China's National Equities Exchange and Quotations from 2015 to 2019 as the research sample. The findings indicate that there is less corporate tax evasion the higher the degree of "incubators and incubated enterprises" matching. The "incubator-incubated enterprises" bilateral matching reduces the degree of corporate tax avoidance by alleviating financial constraints. After further testing the moderating effect of R&D investment and the heterogeneous impact of incubator types, we find that the inhibitory effect of "incubator-incubated enterprises" bilateral matching on corporate tax avoidance is more significant in entrepreneurial enterprises with higher R&D investment and in comprehensive incubators. The research conclusions of this paper provide a reference for government departments to promote the construction of incubator industry, improve the overall efficiency of incubation market, and standardize the tax payment behavior of entrepreneurial enterprises.