This study uses corporate tax return data to examine the evolution of firms' financial structure and performance after leveraged buyouts (LBOs) for a comprehensive sample of 317 LBOs taking place between 1995 and 2007. We find little evidence of operating improvements subsequent to an LBO,...

We study two court rulings that materially affected dividend taxation in several European countries. The tax changes were not related to economic conditions or part of broader policy initiatives, providing a useful experiment for identifying the effect of taxation on capital structure, payout,...