3 ABSTRACT This paper investigates the dividend decisions of firms in the UK reporting losses after sustained periods of profitability. It is found that loss-making firms are more likely to reduce dividends compared to firms that remain profitable, although a loss is far from a guarantee that the dividend payment will be reduced. A lower propensity to reduce dividends is found in the UK relativ...

For nearly half a century, the literature on dividend payments has questioned why firms pay dividends at all. Two competing models have emerged to explain this. In low investor protection regimes, corporate insiders give dividends to signal trust. In high-protection regimes, outside investors have the power to demand dividends. Using a unique laboratory experiment, our results back the empirica...

I propose a Schumpeterian analysis of the e¤ects of a de…cit-…nanced cut of the tax rate on distributed dividends. I develop a very tractable model that allows me to study analytically transition dynamics and welfare, and complement the qualitative results with a quantitative assessment of the Job Growth and Taxpayer Relief Reconciliation Act (JGTRRA) of 2003. I …nd that the JGTRRA produces low...

The 2003 dividend tax reform has generated renewed interest in understanding the economic effects of dividend taxation. The reform introduced favored tax treatment of individual dividend income, whereby dividends are taxed at a rate of 15 percent instead of facing the regular progressive individual income tax schedule with a top rate of 35 percent. Several recent studies have used the 2003 tax ...