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Market Arbitrage of Cash Dividends and Franking Credits

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  • D. Beggs
  • C.L. Skeels

Abstract

Since 1986 dividend imputation has influenced the ex-dividend day behaviour of Australian share prices. Between 1 April 1986 and 30 May 2004 the Government of the day introduced six major legislative amendments intent on improving the efficiency of the dividend imputation system. This paper explores the impact of dividend imputation, in its various forms, on ex-dividend share price adjustments. We find that only the most recent tax change, which provided full income rebates for unused franking credits, appears to have caused the market to put a statistically significant value on franking credits.

Suggested Citation

  • D. Beggs & C.L. Skeels, 2005. "Market Arbitrage of Cash Dividends and Franking Credits," Department of Economics - Working Papers Series 947, The University of Melbourne.
    • Handle: RePEc:mlb:wpaper:947
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Grace Phang & Rob Brown, 2011. "Rational early exercise of call options: Australian evidence," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 51(3), pages 732-744, September.
    2. Fenech, Jean-Pierre & Skully, Michael & Xuguang, Han, 2014. "Franking credits and market reactions: Evidence from the Australian convertible security market," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 1-19.
    3. Simshauser, P., 2022. "On dividends and market valuations of Australia’s listed electricity utilities: regulated vs. merchant," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2229, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    4. Andrew B. Ainsworth & Kingsley Y.L. Fong & David R. Gallagher & Graham Partington, 2018. "Taxes, Order Imbalance and Abnormal Returns around the ex‐Dividend day," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 18(3), pages 379-409, September.
    5. Hodgkinson, Lynn & Partington, Graham, 2013. "Capital gains tax, managed funds and the value of dividends: The case of New Zealand," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(4), pages 271-283.
    6. Simshauser, Paul, 2023. "On dividend policy and market valuations of Australia’s listed electricity utilities: Regulated vs. merchant," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 696-715.
    7. Nguyen Ngoc Anh Le & Xiangkang Yin & Jing Zhao, 2020. "Effects of investor tax heterogeneity on stock prices and trading behaviour around the ex‐dividend day: the case of Australia," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 60(4), pages 3775-3812, December.
    8. Henry, Darren, 2011. "Ownership structure and tax-friendly dividends," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 2747-2760, October.
    9. Aelee Jun & David R. Gallagher & Graham H. Partington, 2011. "Institutional Dividend Clienteles Under an Imputation Tax System," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(1-2), pages 198-224, January.
    10. Heaney, Richard & Koh, SzeKee & Lan, Yihui, 2016. "Australian firm characteristics and the cross-section variation in equity returns," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 104-115.
    11. David J. Beggs & Christopher L. Skeels, 2006. "Market Arbitrage of Cash Dividends and Franking Credits," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 82(258), pages 239-252, September.
    12. Kai-Wei (Shaun) Siau & Stephen J. Sault & Geoffrey J. Warren & Henk Berkman, 2015. "Are imputation credits capitalised into stock prices?," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 55(1), pages 241-277, March.
    13. Andrew Ainsworth & Kingsley YL Fong & David R Gallagher & Graham Partington, 2016. "Institutional trading around the ex-dividend day," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 41(2), pages 299-323, May.
    14. Aelee Jun & Graham H. Partington, 2014. "Taxes, International Clienteles and the Value of ADR Dividends," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(9-10), pages 1337-1360, November.
    15. Cannavan, Damien & Gray, Stephen, 2017. "Dividend drop-off estimates of the value of dividend imputation tax credits," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 46(PB), pages 213-226.
    16. Damien Cannavan & Stephen Gray & Jason Hall, 2023. "Sampling error and the joint estimation of imputation credit value and cash dividend value," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(S1), pages 1029-1068, April.
    17. Oliver Zhen Li, 2010. "Tax-Induced Dividend Capturing," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(7-8), pages 866-904.
    18. James Richard Cummings & Alex Frino, 2008. "Tax Effects on the Pricing of Australian Stock Index Futures," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 33(2), pages 391-406, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Dividend imputation; cash dividends; franking credits; drop-off ratio; tax legislation; structural breaks.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G18 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Government Policy and Regulation

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