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Dividends and Profits: Some Unsubtle Foreign Influences

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Author Info
James R. Hines Jr.

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Abstract

American corporations earn a large and growing share of their profits from their foreign operations. This paper evaluates the effect of foreign earnings on dividend payments by American corporations. The results suggest that the effect may be rather dramatic: that, all other things equal, U.S. corporations pay dividends out of foreign earnings at rates that are three times higher than their payout rates from domestic earnings. Why firms do so is unclear, though this behavior may be consistent with a signaling view of dividends. There is a curious tax consequence of this high payout rate on foreign earnings: the tax system, which grants foreign tax credits to U.S. corporations for the foreign taxes they pay, may receive more revenue from taxing the dividends of U.S. shareholders than from the corporate tax on foreign earnings.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 3730.

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Date of creation: Sep 1996
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:3730

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Capital and Ownership Structure
H87 - Public Economics - - Miscellaneous Issues - - - International Fiscal Issues; International Public Goods

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  1. James R. Hines, Jr., 1996. "Tax Policy and the Activities of Multinational Corporations," NBER Working Papers 5589, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Roger H. Gordon & Joosung Jun, 1992. "Taxes and the Form of Ownership of Foreign Corporate Equity," NBER Working Papers 4159, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Owen Lamont, 1996. "Earnings and Expected Returns," NBER Working Papers 5671, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Raj Chetty & Emmanuel Saez, 2007. "An Agency Theory of Dividend Taxation," NBER Working Papers 13538, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Margaret Lamb, Andrew Lymer, 1999. "Taxation research in an accounting context: future prospects and interdisciplinary perspectives," European Accounting Review, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 8(4), pages 749-776, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Jan Bena & Jan Hanousek, 2008. "Rent Extraction by Large Shareholders: Evidence Using Dividend Policy in the Czech Republic," Czech Journal of Economics and Finance (Finance a uver), Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, vol. 58(03-04), pages 106-130, May. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Mihir A. Desai & C. Fritz Foley & James R. Hines Jr., 2002. "Dividend Policy inside the Firm," NBER Working Papers 8698, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Roger H. Gordon & James R. Hines Jr., 2002. "International Taxation," NBER Working Papers 8854, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
    • Gordon, Roger H. & Hines, James Jr, 2002. "International taxation," Handbook of Public Economics, in: A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), Handbook of Public Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 28, pages 1935-1995 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Gordon M. Bodnar & Joseph Weintrop, 1997. "The Valuation of the Foreign Income of U.S. Multinational Firms: A Growth Opportunities Perspective," NBER Working Papers 5904, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. John W. Budd & Matthew J.Slaughter, 2000. "Are Profits Shared Across Borders? Evidence on International Rent Sharing," NBER Working Papers 8014, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Annette Alstadsæter & Erik Fjaerli, 2009. "Neutral Taxation of Shareholder Income? Corporate Responses to an Announced Dividend Tax," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
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