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Do dividend taxes affect corporate investment?

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  • Alstadsæter, Annette
  • Jacob, Martin
  • Michaely, Roni

Abstract

We test whether dividend taxes affect corporate investments. We exploit Sweden's 2006 dividend tax cut of 10 percentage points for closely held corporations and 5 percentage points for widely held corporations. Using rich administrative panel data and triple-difference estimators, we find that this dividend tax cut does not affect aggregate investment but that it affects the allocation of corporate investment. Cash-constrained firms increase investment after the dividend tax cut relative to cash-rich firms. Reallocation is stronger among closely held firms that experience a larger tax cut. This result is explained by higher external equity in cash-constrained firms and by higher dividends in cash-rich firms after the tax cut.

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  • Alstadsæter, Annette & Jacob, Martin & Michaely, Roni, 2017. "Do dividend taxes affect corporate investment?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 74-83.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:151:y:2017:i:c:p:74-83
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2015.05.001
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    4. A. E. Biondo & G. Burgio & A. Pluchino & D. Puglisi, 2022. "Taxation and evasion: a dynamic model," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 32(3), pages 797-826, July.
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    7. Laurent Bach & Antoine Bozio & Brice Fabre & Arthur Guillouzouic & Claire Leroy & Clément Malgouyres, 2019. "Follow the money! Combining household and firm-level evidence to unravel the tax elasticity of dividend," SciencePo Working papers Main halshs-02415470, HAL.
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    9. M. Jonathan C. Eklund, 2022. "Do multinational firms respond to personal dividend income tax rates?," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 62(4), pages 1743-1771, April.
    10. Elert, Niklas & Henrekson, Magnus & Stenkula, Mikael, 2017. "Institutional Reform for Innovation and Entrepreneurship: An Agenda for Europe," Working Paper Series 1150, Research Institute of Industrial Economics, revised 16 Feb 2017.
    11. Jacob, Martin, 2021. "Dividend taxes, employment, and firm productivity," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    12. Mona Yaghoubi & Reza Yaghoubi, 2021. "The Effect of SARS Outbreak on Corporate Investments," International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), vol. 0(2), pages 117-125.
    13. Adrien Matray & Charles Boissel, 2020. "Higher Dividend Taxes, No Problem! Evidence from Taxing Entrepreneurs in France," Working Papers 276, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Policy Studies..
    14. Eichfelder, Sebastian & Jacob, Martin & Schneider, Kerstin, 2020. "Do tax incentives reduce investment quality?," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 248, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
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    17. Katarzyna Bilicka & Irem Güçeri & Evangelos Koumanakos & Katarzyna Anna Bilicka & Irem Guceri, 2022. "Dividend Taxation and Firm Performance with Heterogeneous Payout Responses," CESifo Working Paper Series 10185, CESifo.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Investment; Dividend taxation; Private Firms;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General
    • G31 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Capital Budgeting; Fixed Investment and Inventory Studies
    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies

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