The Information Content of Dividend Announcements: Evidence from Frontier Markets with Varying Tax Regimes

Abstract

This study provides further insight into the information content of dividends by investigating stock price reaction to the announcement of cash dividends in the unique environments presented by Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. In the case of Jamaica, we document a positive relationship between stock prices and dividend announcements during the period when the tax rate on dividends was 25% and the capital gains tax 0%, but no relationship when the tax rate on dividends fell from 25% to 5% with the capital gains tax rate unchanged. While, in the case of Trinidad and Tobago, where there are no taxes on dividends or capital gains, we find no statistically significant stock price reaction to the announcement of dividend increases and constant dividends but a positive relationship between the announcement of dividend decreases and stock prices. The results for Jamaica are largely supportive of tax-based signaling models which argue that higher taxes on dividends relative to capital gains are a necessary condition for dividends to be informative. However, the results from Trinidad and Tobago suggest that tax differentials are an important but incomplete explanation for the information content of dividend announcements.