How Did the 2003 Dividend Tax Cut Affect Stock Prices?
Abstract
"We test the hypothesis that the 2003 dividend tax cut boosted US stock prices and thereby lowered the cost of equity capital. Using an event-study methodology, we attempt to identify an aggregate stock market effect by comparing the behavior of US common stock prices with that of foreign equities and the equities of real estate investment trusts (REITs). We also examine the relative cross-sectional response of prices of high- and low-dividend-paying stocks. We do not find any imprint of the dividend tax cut news on the value of the aggregate US stock market. On the other hand, high-dividend stocks outperformed low-dividend stocks by a few percentage points over the event windows, suggesting that the tax cut may have induced asset reallocation within equity portfolios. Finally, the positive abnormal return on nondividend paying US stocks in 2003 does not appear to be tied to tax cut news." Copyright (c) 2008 Financial Management Association International..Download Info
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version under "Related research" (further below) or search for a different version of it.
Bibliographic Info
Article provided by Financial Management Association International in its journal Financial Management.
Volume (Year): 37 (2008)
Issue (Month): 4 (December)
Pages: 625-646
Contact details of provider:
Postal: University of South Florida 4202 E. Fowler Ave. COBA #3331, Tampa, FL 33620
Phone: 813-974-3318
Fax: 813-974-2084
Web page: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0046-3892
More information through EDIRC
Order Information:
Web: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/subs.asp?ref=0046-3892
Related research
Keywords:Other versions of this item:
- Eugene Amromin & Paul Harrison & Steven Sharpe, 2006. "How did the 2003 dividend tax cut affect stock prices?," Working Paper Series WP-06-17, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
- Gene Amromin & Paul Harrison & Steven Sharpe, 2005. "How did the 2003 dividend tax cut affect stock prices?," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2005-61, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
References
References listed on IDEASPlease report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
- Auerbach, Alan J. & Hassett, Kevin A., 2006.
"Dividend Taxes and Firm Valuation: New Evidence,"
Berkeley Olin Program in Law & Economics, Working Paper Series
qt2nt4k6vj, Berkeley Olin Program in Law & Economics.
- Alan J. Auerbach & Kevin A. Hassett, 2006. "Dividend Taxes and Firm Valuation: New Evidence," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(2), pages 119-123, May.
- Alan J. Auerbach & Kevin A. Hassett, 2006. "Dividend Taxes and Firm Valuation: New Evidence," NBER Working Papers 11959, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- James Poterba, 2004.
"Taxation and Corporate Payout Policy,"
NBER Working Papers
10321, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- James Poterba, 2004. "Taxation and Corporate Payout Policy," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(2), pages 171-175, May.
- John R. Graham & Roni Michaely & Michael R. Roberts, 2003. "Do Price Discreteness and Transactions Costs Affect Stock Returns? Comparing Ex-Dividend Pricing before and after Decimalization," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(6), pages 2611-2636, December.
- Alan J. Auerbach & Kevin A. Hassett, 2000.
"On the Marginal Source of Investment Funds,"
NBER Working Papers
7821, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- Auerbach, Alan J. & Hassett, Kevin A., 2003. "On the marginal source of investment funds," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 205-232, January.
- Alan J. Auerbach, 2001.
"Taxation and Corporate Financial Policy,"
NBER Working Papers
8203, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- Auerbach, Alan J., 2002. "Taxation and corporate financial policy," Handbook of Public Economics, in: A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), Handbook of Public Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 19, pages 1251-1292 Elsevier.
- Clemens Sialm, 2005. "Tax Changes and Asset Pricing: Time-Series Evidence," NBER Working Papers 11756, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
Citations
Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.Cited by:
- Jeffrey R. Brown & Nellie Liang & Scott Weisbenner, 2006.
"Executive financial incentives and payout policy: firm responses to the 2003 dividend tax cut,"
Finance and Economics Discussion Series
2006-14, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
- Jeffrey R. Brown & Nellie Liang & Scott Weisbenner, 2007. "Executive Financial Incentives and Payout Policy: Firm Responses to the 2003 Dividend Tax Cut," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 62(4), pages 1935-1965, 08.
- Jeffrey R. Brown & Nellie Liang & Scott Weisbenner, 2004. "Executive Financial Incentives and Payout Policy: Firm Responses to the 2003 Dividend Tax Cut," NBER Working Papers 11002, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- Jesse Edgerton, 2010. "Effects of the 2003 dividend tax cut: evidence from real estate investment trusts," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2010-34, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
- Clemens Sialm, 2006. "Investment Taxes and Equity Returns," NBER Working Papers 12146, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- Alan J. Auerbach & Kevin A. Hassett, 2006.
"Dividend Taxes and Firm Valuation: New Evidence,"
American Economic Review,
American Economic Association, vol. 96(2), pages 119-123, May.
- Auerbach, Alan J. & Hassett, Kevin A., 2006. "Dividend Taxes and Firm Valuation: New Evidence," Berkeley Olin Program in Law & Economics, Working Paper Series qt2nt4k6vj, Berkeley Olin Program in Law & Economics.
- Alan J. Auerbach & Kevin A. Hassett, 2006. "Dividend Taxes and Firm Valuation: New Evidence," NBER Working Papers 11959, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- Josef García Blandón & M?nica Martínez Blasco & Josef Argiles Bosch, 2011. "Ex-Dividend Day Returns when Dividend and Capital Gains are Taxed at the Same Rate," Czech Journal of Economics and Finance (Finance a uver), Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, vol. 61(2), pages 140-152, June.
Lists
This item is not listed on Wikipedia, on a reading list or among the top items on IDEAS.Statistics
Access and download statisticsCorrections
When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:finmgt:v:37:y:2008:i:4:p:625-646For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: (Wiley-Blackwell Digital Licensing) or (Christopher F. Baum).
If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.
If references are entirely missing, you can add them using this form.
If the full references list an item that is present in RePEc, but the system did not link to it, you can help with this form.
If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.
Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

