This paper analyzes a tax system where personal share income in excess of the risk-free return on equity (the equity premium) is taxed. The rate of return allowance (RRA) in the Norwegian shareholder income tax system is, to the best of our knowledge, the first attempt of implementing such...

The introduction of the 2006 Norwegian shareholder income tax was announced in advance, and it increased top marginal tax rates on individual dividend income from zero to 28 percent. We document strong timing effects on dividend payout on a large panel of non-listed corporations, with a surge of...

The introduction of the 2006 Norwegian shareholder income tax was announced in advance, and it increased top marginal tax rates on individual dividend income from zero to 28 percent. We document strong timing effects on dividend payout on a large panel of non-listed corporations, with a surge of...

Tax codes regularly create conflicts of interests between small and large shareholders with respect to the payout decision of firms. We use this fact to study (i) whether firm behavior reflects preferences of blockholders and (ii) the effectiveness of minority shareholder protection on...

Dividends are taxed at the investor level, but injecting funds into firms does not offer investors the symmetric tax benefit. Hence, there is a tax saving incentive to retain cash in the firm. We theoretically and empirically show that this tax saving motive is important for corporate cash...

Using the 2003 reduction in dividend tax rates to identify an exogenous change in the after-tax value of dividends to shareholders, we test whether stock holdings among company executives is an important determinant of payout policy. We have three primary findings. First, we find that when top...

This paper investigates whether corporate payout policy is associated with insiders' share holdings and their tax preferences. We find that insider ownership and the implied tax liabilities are positively related to firms' propensity to employ share repurchases. Firms with higher levels of or...

Contrary to Miller and Modigliani (1961), payout policy is not irrelevant and investment policy is not the sole determinant of value, even in frictionless markets. MM ask quot;Do companies with generous distribution policies consistently sell at a premium above those with niggardly payouts?quot;...

This paper investigates for the identity of the ex-dividend date traders using the Finnish unique database that records the trades of all investors on the market. We find evidence of two investor groups trading around the ex-dividend date: domestic non-financial investors doing dividend...

This study investigates whether changes in personal tax rates on dividends and capital gains affect firms' incremental financing decisions. The evidence in this study suggests that following the 1997 and 2003 Tax Acts, which decreased tax rates on equity income, firms are less likely to issue...