Evidence of Tax-Clientele-Related Trading following Dividend Increases
The tax-clientele theory suggests that higher (lower) tax-rate investors should, ceteris paribus, concentrate their portfolios in tax-favored (explicitly taxed) assets. While evidence supporting the tax-clientele theory exists, research on tax-induced dividend clienteles for common stocks is mixed. This study examines trading activity, measured using daily transaction data, following dividend increases for evidence of shareholder clientele changes. Consistent with implications of the tax-induced dividend clientele theory, I document a strong positive association between dividend increase magnitude and post-dividend-increase trading activity. This result provides evidence that tax clienteles for dividend policies exists and that their effect is strong enough to influence investors' decisions. Further, consistent with dividend clienteles existing, I find that the relation between dividend-increase magnitude and postdividend-increase trading activity decreases with higher pre-dividend-increase dividend levels.