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Dividend taxes, employment, and firm productivity

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  • Jacob, Martin

Abstract

The paper examines the effect of dividend taxation on employment and productivity. I exploit a dividend tax cut of 10 percentage points for closely held private corporations in Sweden. Using data on all closely held Swedish firms with exact information on employees and their wages, I find that firms with limited internal funds increase productivity and wages relative to firms with sufficient internal funds whose investment decisions are less affected by dividend taxes. My findings indicate that dividend taxes constrain firms in investing efficiently. Lower taxes can result in higher capital and labor input and, thus, in higher productivity.

Suggested Citation

  • Jacob, Martin, 2021. "Dividend taxes, employment, and firm productivity," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:corfin:v:69:y:2021:i:c:s0929119921001620
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2021.102040
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    Cited by:

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    2. Dautović, Ernest & Gambacorta, Leonardo & Reghezza, Alessio, 2023. "Supervisory policy stimulus: evidence from the euro area dividend recommendation," Working Paper Series 2796, European Central Bank.
    3. Bournakis, Ioannis & Tsionas, Mike G., 2023. "A Non-Parametric Estimation of Productivity with Idiosyncratic and Aggregate Shocks: The Role of Research and Development (R&D) and Corporate Tax," MPRA Paper 118100, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Matteo Ghilardi & Roy Zilberman, 2022. "Macroeconomic Effects of Dividend Taxation with Investment Credit Limits," IMF Working Papers 2022/127, International Monetary Fund.
    5. Zuanjiu Zhou & Zhong Liu, 2023. "The Impact of Place-Based Policies on Firm Performance: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-19, April.
    6. Jacob, Martin & Vossebürger, Robert, 2022. "The role of personal income taxes in corporate investment decisions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    7. Eichfelder, Sebastian & Jacob, Martin & Schneider, Kerstin, 2023. "Do tax incentives affect investment quality?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    8. Kong, Dongmin & Ji, Mianmian & Zhang, Fan, 2022. "Individual investors’ dividend tax reform and corporate social responsibility," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Dividend taxation; Employment; Wages; Productivity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G31 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Capital Budgeting; Fixed Investment and Inventory Studies
    • H24 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies
    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies

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