Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
959787 | Journal of Financial Economics | 2015 | 19 Pages |
Abstract
Some mutual funds purchase stocks before dividend payments to artificially increase their dividends, which we call “juicing.” Funds paid more than twice the dividends implied by their holdings in 7.4% of fund-years examined. Juicing is associated with larger inflows, and is more common among funds with unsophisticated investors. This behavior is consistent with an underlying investor demand for dividends, but is hard to explain by taxes or need for income, as funds can generate equivalent tax-free distributions by returning capital. Juicing is costly to investors through higher turnover and increased taxes of 0.57% to 1.52% of fund assets per year.
Related Topics
Social Sciences and Humanities
Business, Management and Accounting
Accounting
Authors
Lawrence E. Harris, Samuel M. Hartzmark, David H. Solomon,