IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/pubfin/v44y2016i6p769-787.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Dividends and Investment

Author

Listed:
  • Aparna Mathur
  • Nirupama S. Rao
  • Michael R. Strain
  • Stan A. Veuger

Abstract

This article investigates the relationship between dividend payouts and corporate investment. We find significant heterogeneity in the relationship across firms—heterogeneity that helps reconcile competing results in the literature. Drawing on financial filing data from Compustat, we first broadly replicate the statistically significant negative relationship estimated by Auerbach and Hassett. We show that this relationship does not hold if the variation is restricted to within-firm only. Our null results suggest a relatively precise zero estimate for the mean firm. Next, we investigate heterogeneity in the relationship between dividends and investment. Using quantile regression methods, we find that this negative relationship is concentrated at the top of dividends distribution: only firms from the seventieth percentile and above exhibit a strongly negative relationship, and it is these firms that drive the negative estimates of pooled ordinary least square regressions reported in prior work.

Suggested Citation

  • Aparna Mathur & Nirupama S. Rao & Michael R. Strain & Stan A. Veuger, 2016. "Dividends and Investment," Public Finance Review, , vol. 44(6), pages 769-787, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:pubfin:v:44:y:2016:i:6:p:769-787
    DOI: 10.1177/1091142115623852
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1091142115623852
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/1091142115623852?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bradford, David F., 1981. "The incidence and allocation effects of a tax on corporate distributions," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 1-22, February.
    2. Ivan A. Canay, 2011. "A simple approach to quantile regression for panel data," Econometrics Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 14(3), pages 368-386, October.
    3. Fama, Eugene F, 1974. "The Empirical Relationships Between the Dividend and Investment Decisions of Firms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 64(3), pages 304-318, June.
    4. Koenker, Roger & Bassett, Gilbert, Jr, 1982. "Robust Tests for Heteroscedasticity Based on Regression Quantiles," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(1), pages 43-61, January.
    5. Auerbach, Alan J. & Hassett, Kevin A., 2003. "On the marginal source of investment funds," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 205-232, January.
    6. Smirlock, Michael & Marshall, William, 1983. "An Examination of the Empirical Relationship between the Dividend and Investment Decisions: A Note," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 38(5), pages 1659-1667, December.
    7. Korinek, Anton & Stiglitz, Joseph E., 2009. "Dividend taxation and intertemporal tax arbitrage," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(1-2), pages 142-159, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Galina Besstremyannaya & Sergei Golovan, 2019. "Reconsideration of a simple approach to quantile regression for panel data: a comment on the Canay (2011) fixed effects estimator," Working Papers w0249, New Economic School (NES).
    2. Ms. Li Liu, 2018. "Where Does Multinational Investment Go with Territorial Taxation? Evidence from the UK," IMF Working Papers 2018/007, International Monetary Fund.
    3. Galina Besstremyannaya & Sergei Golovan, 2019. "Reconsideration of a simple approach to quantile regression for panel data: a comment on the Canay (2011) fixed effects estimator," Working Papers w0249, Center for Economic and Financial Research (CEFIR).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. François Gourio & Jianjun Miao, 2010. "Firm Heterogeneity and the Long-Run Effects of Dividend Tax Reform," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(1), pages 131-168, January.
    2. Koethenbuerger, Marko & Stimmelmayr, Michael, 2014. "Corporate deductibility provisions and managerial incentives," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 120-130.
    3. Francois Gourio & Jianjun Miao, 2011. "Transitional Dynamics of Dividend and Capital Gains Tax Cuts," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 14(2), pages 368-383, April.
    4. Zeida, Teegawende H., 2019. "On the corporate tax reform: Coordination and trade-offs," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    5. Francois Gourio & Jianjun Miao, "undated". "Transitional Dynamics of Dividend Tax Reform," Boston University - Department of Economics - Working Papers Series wp2008-021, Boston University - Department of Economics.
    6. Francois Gourio & Jianjun Miao, 2011. "Transitional Dynamics of Dividend and Capital Gains Tax Cuts," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 14(2), pages 368-383, April.
    7. Marko Koethenbuerger & Michael E Stimmelmayr, 2022. "The Efficiency Costs of Dividend Taxation with Managerial Firms," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 132(643), pages 1123-1149.
    8. Andrew Benito & Garry Young, 2003. "Hard Times or Great Expectations? Dividend Omissions and Dividend Cuts by UK Firms," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 65(5), pages 531-555, December.
    9. Seppo Kari & Jussi Laitila, 2015. "Nonlinear Dividend Tax and the Dynamics of the Firm," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 71(2), pages 153-177, June.
    10. Lindhe, Tobias & Södersten, Jan, 2013. "Distortive Effects of Dividend Taxation," Working Paper Series 2013:16, Uppsala University, Department of Economics.
    11. Alstadsæter, Annette & Jacob, Martin & Michaely, Roni, 2017. "Do dividend taxes affect corporate investment?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 74-83.
    12. Raj Chetty & Emmanuel Saez, 2005. "Dividend Taxes and Corporate Behavior: Evidence from the 2003 Dividend Tax Cut," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(3), pages 791-833.
    13. Steven M. Fazzari & R. Glenn Hubbard & Bruce C. Petersen, 1988. "Financing Constraints and Corporate Investment," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 19(1), pages 141-206.
    14. Tobias Lindhe & Jan Södersten, 2006. "The Equity Trap, the Cost of Capital and the Firm’s Growth Path," CESifo Working Paper Series 1801, CESifo.
    15. Raj Chetty & Emmanuel Saez, 2010. "Dividend and Corporate Taxation in an Agency Model of the Firm," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 2(3), pages 1-31, August.
    16. Annette Alstadsæter & Erik Fjærli, 2009. "Neutral taxation of shareholder income? Corporate responses to an announced dividend tax," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 16(4), pages 571-604, August.
    17. Serge Nadeau & Robert P. Strauss, 1991. "Tax Policies and the Real and Financial Decisions of the Firm: the Effects of the Tax Reform Act of 1986," Public Finance Review, , vol. 19(3), pages 251-292, July.
    18. Zhang, Jingfang & Malikov, Emir, 2022. "Off-balance sheet activities and scope economies in U.S. banking," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    19. Becker, Bo & Jacob, Marcus & Jacob, Martin, 2013. "Payout taxes and the allocation of investment," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(1), pages 1-24.
    20. Fayez A. Elayan & Jingyu Li & Maureen E. Donnelly & Allister W. Young, 2009. "Changes to Income Trust Taxation in Canada: Investor Reaction and Dividend Clientele Theory," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(5-6), pages 725-753.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:pubfin:v:44:y:2016:i:6:p:769-787. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.