Do dividend taxes affect corporate investment?

A-Tier
Journal: Journal of Public Economics
Year: 2017
Volume: 151
Issue: C
Pages: 74-83

Score contribution per author:

1.341 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

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.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:pubeco:v:151:y:2017:i:c:p:74-83
Journal Field
Public
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-24