Investigation of the costly-arbitrage model of price formation around the ex-dividend day in Norway

We estimate the costly-arbitrage model of Boyd and Jagannathan [Boyd, John, and Jagannathan, Ravi, 1994, Ex-Dividend Price Behavior of Common Stocks, Review of Financial Studies 7, 711–741.] using Norwegian stock market data. Taxable distributions take place at two separate dates, one that entails the distribution of an imputation-tax credit and another the distribution of the cash dividend. We find that the costly-arbitrage model is consistent with observed stock returns around the ex-dividend day, but the model cannot explain the return patterns around the distribution of the tax credit. We conclude that uncertainty about the cash flows prevents arbitrage.