IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ntj/journl/v65y2012i3p595-627.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Do Tax Sensitive Investors Liquidate Appreciated Shares After a Capital Gains Tax Rate Reduction?

Author

Listed:
  • Chyz, James A.
  • Li, Oliver Zhen

Abstract

Using data on institutional investors’ portfolio composition before and after the capital gains tax rate cut in the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, we find evidence that, relative to less tax sensitive institutional investors, tax sensitive institutional investors are more willing to sell appreciated equity in response to the rate cut. Further, the reduction in value invested in appreciated equity appears to be lasting, consistent with the tax rate cut lowering tax sensitive investors’ impediments to optimally balancing their portfolios. These results provide direct evidence of a capital gains tax lock-in effect.

Suggested Citation

  • Chyz, James A. & Li, Oliver Zhen, 2012. "Do Tax Sensitive Investors Liquidate Appreciated Shares After a Capital Gains Tax Rate Reduction?," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 65(3), pages 595-627, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:ntj:journl:v:65:y:2012:i:3:p:595-627
    DOI: 10.17310/ntj.2012.3.04
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.17310/ntj.2012.3.04
    Download Restriction: Access is restricted to subscribers and members of the National Tax Association.
    File URL: https://doi.org/10.17310/ntj.2012.3.04
    Download Restriction: Access is restricted to subscribers and members of the National Tax Association.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.17310/ntj.2012.3.04?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Guenther, David A. & Sansing, Richard, 2006. "Fundamentals of shareholder tax capitalization," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 371-383, December.
    2. Raj Chetty & Emmanuel Saez, 2005. "Dividend Taxes and Corporate Behavior: Evidence from the 2003 Dividend Tax Cut," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(3), pages 791-833.
    3. Landsman, Wayne R. & Shackelford, Douglas A., 1995. "The Lock-In Effect of Capital Gains Taxes: Evidence from the RJR Nabisco Leveraged Buyout," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 48(2), pages 245-259, June.
    4. Andrea Frazzini, 2006. "The Disposition Effect and Underreaction to News," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(4), pages 2017-2046, August.
    5. Zhonglan Dai & Edward Maydew & Douglas A. Shackelford & Harold H. Zhang, 2008. "Capital Gains Taxes and Asset Prices: Capitalization or Lock‐in?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(2), pages 709-742, April.
    6. Lang, Mark H. & Shackelford, Douglas A., 2000. "Capitalization of capital gains taxes: evidence from stock price reactions to the 1997 rate reduction," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(1), pages 69-85, April.
    7. Constantinides, George M., 1984. "Optimal stock trading with personal taxes : Implications for prices and the abnormal January returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 65-89, March.
    8. Klein, Peter, 1999. "The capital gain lock-in effect and equilibrium returns," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(3), pages 355-378, March.
    9. Bergstresser, Daniel & Poterba, James, 2002. "Do after-tax returns affect mutual fund inflows?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(3), pages 381-414, March.
    10. Bushee, BJ & Noe, CF, 2000. "Corporate disclosure practices, institutional investors, and stock return volatility," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38, pages 171-202.
    11. Moser, William J., 2007. "The Effect of Shareholder Taxes on Corporate Payout Choice," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 42(4), pages 991-1019, December.
    12. Burman, Leonard E & Randolph, William C, 1994. "Measuring Permanent Responses to Capital-Gains Tax Changes in Panel Data," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(4), pages 794-809, September.
    13. Martin Feldstein & Joel Slemrod & Shlomo Yitzhaki, 1980. "The Effects of Taxation on the Selling of Corporate Stock and the Realization of Capital Gains," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 94(4), pages 777-791.
    14. Klein, Peter, 2001. "The capital gain lock-in effect and long-horizon return reversal," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(1), pages 33-62, January.
    15. Del Guercio, Diane, 1996. "The distorting effect of the prudent-man laws on institutional equity investments," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 31-62, January.
    16. Jennifer L. Blouin & Jana Smith Raedy & Douglas A. Shackelford, 2003. "Capital Gains Taxes and Equity Trading: Empirical Evidence," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(4), pages 611-651, September.
    17. Gerald E. Auten & Charles T. Clotfelter, 1982. "Permanent versus Transitory Tax Effects and the Realization of Capital Gains," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 97(4), pages 613-632.
    18. Fama, Eugene F & French, Kenneth R, 1995. "Size and Book-to-Market Factors in Earnings and Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 50(1), pages 131-155, March.
    19. Landsman, Wayne R. & Shackelford, Douglas A. & Yetman, Robert J., 2002. "The determinants of capital gains tax compliance: evidence from the RJR Nabisco leveraged buyout," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(1), pages 47-74, April.
    20. Ivkovic, Zoran & Weisbenner, Scott, 2009. "Individual investor mutual fund flows," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(2), pages 223-237, May.
    21. Klein, Peter, 1998. "The capital gain lock-in effect with short sales constraints," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 22(12), pages 1533-1558, December.
    22. Viard, Alan D., 2000. "Dynamic asset pricing effects and incidence of realization-based capital gains taxes," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 465-488, October.
    23. Li Jin, 2006. "Capital Gains Tax Overhang and Price Pressure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(3), pages 1399-1431, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. He, Eric & Jacob, Martin & Vashishtha, Rahul & Venkatachalam, Mohan, 2022. "Does differential taxation of short-term relative to long-term capital gains affect long-term investment?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(1).
    2. Sikes, Stephanie A., 2014. "The turn-of-the-year effect and tax-loss-selling by institutional investors," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(1), pages 22-42.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dimmock, Stephen G. & Feng, Fan & Zhang, Huai, 2023. "Mutual funds' capital gains lock-in and earnings management," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    2. Hanlon, Michelle & Heitzman, Shane, 2010. "A review of tax research," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 127-178, December.
    3. Chris Mitchell, 2019. "The Lock-In Effect and the Corporate Payout Puzzle," ISER Discussion Paper 1070r, Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University, revised Aug 2021.
    4. Niemann, Rainer & Sureth, Caren, 2009. "Investment effects of capital gains taxation under simultaneous investment and abandonment flexibility," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 77, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
    5. Chris Mitchell, 2019. "The Lock-In Effect and the Corporate Payout Puzzle," ISER Discussion Paper 1070, Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University.
    6. Jin, Li & Kothari, S.P., 2008. "Effect of personal taxes on managers' decisions to sell their stock," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 23-46, September.
    7. Stimmelmayr, Michael & Liberini, Federica & Russo, Antonio, 2015. "The Role of Toeholds and Capital Gain Taxes for Corporate Acquisition Strategies," VfS Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 112926, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    8. He, Eric & Jacob, Martin & Vashishtha, Rahul & Venkatachalam, Mohan, 2022. "Does differential taxation of short-term relative to long-term capital gains affect long-term investment?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(1).
    9. Poterba, James M., 2002. "Taxation, risk-taking, and household portfolio behavior," Handbook of Public Economics, in: A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), Handbook of Public Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 17, pages 1109-1171, Elsevier.
    10. Clemens Sialm, 2009. "Tax Changes and Asset Pricing," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(4), pages 1356-1383, September.
    11. Harry Huizinga & Johannes Voget & Wolf Wagner, 2014. "International Taxation and Cross-Border Banking," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 6(2), pages 94-125, May.
    12. Huizinga, Harry & Voget, Johannes & Wagner, Wolf, 2018. "Capital gains taxation and the cost of capital: Evidence from unanticipated cross-border transfers of tax base," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(2), pages 306-328.
    13. Hasan, M. Emrul & Klein, Peter, 2022. "The capital gain lock-in effect and seasoned equity offerings," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    14. Chongyang Chen & Zhonglan Dai & Douglas Shackelford & Harold Zhang, 2011. "Does Financial Constraint Affect Shareholder Taxes and the Cost of Equity Capital?," NBER Working Papers 17169, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Buhlmann, Florian & Doerrenberg, Philipp & Voget, Johannes & Loos, Benjamin, 2020. "How do taxes affect the trading behavior of private investors? Evidence from individual portfolio data," ZEW Discussion Papers 20-047, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    16. Claudio Agostini & Mariel C. Siravegna, 2009. "Efectos de la Exención Tributaria a las Ganancias de Capital en el Precio de las Acciones en Chile," ILADES-UAH Working Papers inv233, Universidad Alberto Hurtado/School of Economics and Business.
    17. Jacob, Martin, 2014. "Cross-base tax elasticity of capital gains," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 169, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
    18. Zhonglan Dai & Edward Maydew & Douglas A. Shackelford & Harold H. Zhang, 2008. "Capital Gains Taxes and Asset Prices: Capitalization or Lock‐in?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(2), pages 709-742, April.
    19. Annika Hegemann & Angela Kunoth & Kristina Rupp & Caren Sureth-Sloane, 2017. "Hold or sell? How capital gains taxation affects holding decisions," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 11(3), pages 571-603, July.
    20. Hegemann, Annika, 2016. "Hemmt die Veräußerungsgewinnbesteuerung unternehmerische Flexibilität?," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 203, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ntj:journl:v:65:y:2012:i:3:p:595-627. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    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 CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc 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 RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: The University of Chicago Press (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.ntanet.org/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.