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RETRACTED BY THE AUTHORS: Dividend Taxes and the Allocation of Capital

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  • Charles Boissel
  • Adrien Matray

Abstract

This paper investigates the 2013 threefold increase in the French dividend tax rate. Using administrative data covering the universe of firms from 2008 to 2017 and a quasi-experimental setting, we find that firms swiftly cut dividend payments and used this tax-induced increase in liquidity to invest more. Heterogeneity analyses show that firms with high demand and returns on capital responded most while no group of firms cut their investment. Our results reject models in which higher dividend taxes increase the cost of capital and show that the tax-induced increase in liquidity relaxes credit constraints, which can reduce capital misallocation.

Suggested Citation

  • Charles Boissel & Adrien Matray, 2022. "RETRACTED BY THE AUTHORS: Dividend Taxes and the Allocation of Capital," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 112(9), pages 2884-2920, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:112:y:2022:i:9:p:2884-2920
    DOI: 10.1257/aer.20210369
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    4. Emmanuel Saez & Benjamin Schoefer & David Seim, 2019. "Payroll Taxes, Firm Behavior, and Rent Sharing: Evidence from a Young Workers' Tax Cut in Sweden," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(5), pages 1717-1763, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Hillmann, Lisa, 2023. "Dividend taxation and the ownership structure of private firms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    2. Eichfelder, Sebastian & Jacob, Martin & Schneider, Kerstin, 2023. "Do tax incentives affect investment quality?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    3. Guillaume Coqueret, 2023. "Forking paths in financial economics," Papers 2401.08606, arXiv.org.
    4. Katarzyna A. Bilicka & Irem Guceri & Evangelos Koumanakos, 2022. "Dividend Taxation and Firm Performance with Heterogeneous Payout Responses," NBER Working Papers 30808, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Matteo Ghilardi & Roy Zilberman, 2022. "Macroeconomic Effects of Dividend Taxation with Investment Credit Limits," IMF Working Papers 2022/127, International Monetary Fund.
    6. Harju, Jarkko & Koivisto, Aliisa & Matikka, Tuomas, 2022. "The effects of corporate taxes on small firms," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).
    7. Jaqueline Hansen & Valeria Merlo & Georg Wamser, 2023. "Taxes, Profit Shifting, and the Real Activities of MNEs: Evidence from Corporate Tax Notches," CESifo Working Paper Series 10593, CESifo.
    8. Matteo F. Ghilardi & Roy Zilberman, 2024. "Macroeconomic Effects of Dividend Taxation with Investment Credit Limits," Journal of Political Economy Macroeconomics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 2(3), pages 409-448.
    9. Jacob, Martin & Vossebürger, Robert, 2022. "The role of personal income taxes in corporate investment decisions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    10. Ram Singh, 2022. "Do the Wealthy Underreport their Income? Analysing Relationship between Wealth and Reported Income in India," Working papers 331, Centre for Development Economics, Delhi School of Economics.
    11. Anagnostopoulos, Alexis & Atesagaoglu, Orhan Erem, 2023. "Shareholder tax cuts with household and firm heterogeneity," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • G31 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Capital Budgeting; Fixed Investment and Inventory Studies
    • G35 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Payout Policy
    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • H32 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Firm

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