Capital Gains Taxes and Return Volatility



Capital Gains Taxes and Stock Return Volatility:

Evidence from the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997

Abstract

This paper empirically investigates the effect of capital gains taxes on stock return volatility by examining the change in return volatility following a 1997 reduction in the capital gains tax rate. We focus on two observable cross-sectional variations in the extent to which capital gains taxes affect return volatility—accrued capital gains and dividend distributions. For both cross-sectional variations, we predict that the more stock returns are expected to be subject to capital gains taxation, the greater the increase in volatility following a capital gains tax rate reduction. Consistent with these predictions, we find a larger increase in the return volatility for more appreciated stocks and for non-dividend-paying stocks at passage of the legislation.

Keywords: Capital gains taxes, return volatility, accrued capital gains, dividend yield

Data Availability: Data are available from public sources as indicated in the text

1. Introduction

This paper examines the effect of capital gains taxes on stock return volatility. Previous studies of the effects of capital gains taxes on asset prices have focused exclusively on the level of stock returns and trading volume.[1] This study extends that literature to consider whether a capital gains tax rate cut affects the volatility of stock returns. Specifically, we examine stock return volatility around the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 (TRA 97), which reduced the capital gains tax rate from 28% to 20%. TRA 97 provides us a unique opportunity to isolate the effect of capital gains taxes on stock return volatility because it is the only time in U.S. history when capital gains tax rates changed while other taxes remained constant.

To our knowledge, no existing studies (analytical or empirical) directly relate capital gains taxes to stock return volatility.[2] To provide guidance for our empirical investigation, we draw from Merton’s (1973) finding that risk premiums are positively correlated with return volatility for a diversified portfolio and Klein’s (2001) finding that risk premiums are negatively related to capital gain taxes for stocks with accrued capital gains. These findings lead us to infer that a reduction in the capital gains tax rate should increase the return volatility of stocks with accrued capital gains and the increase should be higher for these stocks than for those with smaller accrued capital gains.

Because capital gains tax rate changes are infrequent and rarely occur in isolation from other major tax changes, we examine the relation between capital gains taxes and return volatility by exploiting cross-sectional variations in the extent to which capital gains taxes affect stock returns around TRA 97.[3] We predict that the returns from stocks that are highly appreciated at the time of a cut in the capital gains tax rate will be affected more by the rate reduction than the returns from stocks with little or no appreciation. Consequently, a capital gains tax rate cut should boost the expected risk premium and return volatility more for stocks with larger accrued capital gains.

Using equity returns from January 1994 to December 2000, we construct stock portfolios based on stock price changes in the most recent past 18 months (the minimum required holding period to gain favorable capital gains tax treatment following enactment of TRA 97). Consistent with our prediction, we find that portfolios of stocks with large price appreciation at the time of TRA 97 experienced a larger increase in return volatility than did portfolios of stocks with small appreciation, after controlling for an extensive set of factors known to affect stock return volatility,

We also study another cross-sectional variation, a firm’s dividend yield. Here, the theory is ambiguous. On the one hand, cutting the capital gains tax rate increases the relative cost to investors of distributing profits as dividends, leading them to demand a higher risk premium on stocks with higher dividend yield.[4] As a result, the risk premium and return volatility should be rising with the firm’s dividend yield. On the other hand, the increased cost of paying dividends may reduce the amount of dividends that firms pay, exposing more of the stock’s return to the capital gains tax. If so, a capital gains tax rate cut could actually increase the risk premium and return volatility for lower dividend-paying stocks more than for higher dividend-paying stocks. We find that this is the case. Following the 1997 rate cut, portfolios of non-dividend-paying stocks experienced a larger increase in return volatility than did portfolios of dividend-paying stocks.

The paper is organized as follows. Section 2 sketches a framework for evaluating the effects of capital gains taxes on return volatility and develops hypotheses. Section 3 presents the empirical methodology and the research design. Section 4 discusses the empirical results and section 5 provides closing remarks.

2. Hypothesis Development

Although no existing theory directly relates capital gains taxes to stock return volatility, we draw from two models to provide some guidance for our empirical work. These models enable us to identify accrued capital gains and dividend yield as two factors that should influence the cross-sectional variation in the capital gains tax effect on return volatility.

Using an intertemporal asset pricing model without personal taxation, Merton (1973) shows that the expected risk premium on a diversified portfolio such as a market portfolio varies positively with the conditional return variance:

[pic] (1)

where [pic] is portfolio risk premium, [pic] is the investor’s relative risk aversion coefficient and is strictly positive if investors are risk averse, and [pic] should be zero in equilibrium.

Klein (2001) proposes an intertemporal asset pricing model with personal taxes to explore the equilibrium implication of the capital gain lock-in effect (i.e., the incentive to retain, rather than sell, appreciated stock to avoid paying capital gains taxes). He assumes that a representative investor with a time-separable concave preference maximizes a discounted expected life-time utility. The amount of capital gains tax payable after rebalancing at time t is calculated as the net realized gains on all positions multiplied by the capital gains tax rate. The accrued capital gain on stock k, [pic] is then calculated as the proportion of the gain from the prior period that has not been realized plus the gain that has accrued on the number of shares retained from the preceding period due to the change in stock price from one period to the next. Although interest income on the risk-free asset and dividend income on the risky asset are immediately taxed, the capital gains are only taxed when the investor sells appreciated shares.

Under these assumptions, Klein (2001) arrives at the following result with personal taxes and accrued capital gains:

[pic] (2)

where [pic] represents the market risk and return tradeoff, [pic], [pic] and [pic] are market and stock k’s liquidation schedules, respectively, [pic], [pic] and [pic] are the nominal tax rates on dividend and capital gains, respectively, [pic], [pic] and [pic] are the dividend yield of the market portfolio and stock k, respectively, [pic] and [pic] are the deferral terms on the market portfolio and stock k, respectively. Focusing on the tax effect on stocks with accrued capital gains upon selling, the deferral term on stock k can be expressed as follows:

[pic] (3)

where [pic] is the gross interest rate, and [pic] is the per share accrued capital gain, [pic] is a timing factor used to calculate the benefit of deferring the realization of the tax on the accrued capital gain.

After substituting equation (3) into (2), equations (1) and (2) together imply the following relation which links portfolio return volatility to various components of the risk premium of portfolio p as follows:

[pic] (4)

Three components likely influence the cross-sectional variation in the capital gains tax effect on risk premium and return volatility: the covariance risk (the first term), the dividend yield (the second term), and the accrued capital gains (the third term). We focus on the last two directly observable terms: dividend yield and accrued capital gains.[5]

Klein (2001) sets the liquidation schedule [pic] at one when shares are sold in period t. It then decreases in the accrued capital gains because stocks with accrued capital gains tend to be held longer (the lock-in effect). This incentive to defer realization implies that, when a capital gains tax rate is cut, the risk premium and associated systematic return volatility will increase more for stocks with larger accrued capital gains. This occurs because a capital gains tax rate cut makes the capital gain return more attractive and increases the risk premium in the form of the capital gain return more for stocks with larger accrued capital gains leading to higher return volatility increases for these stocks. We refer to this effect as the “lock-in” effect on return volatility because it is related to accrued capital gains at period t.

The impact of the dividend yield on the volatility-capital gains tax relation is more complicated and ambiguous. When a capital gains tax rate cut boosts [pic] the risk premium and return volatility rise more for higher dividend yield stocks because the dividend tax penalty increases. However, this assumes that the expected dividend yield remains unchanged. If the expected dividend yield falls (because the capital gains tax cut raises the relative cost of paying dividends), then the portion of the stock returns that is subject to the capital gains tax increases. This leads to the following prediction: If the increase in [pic] outweighs (is outweighed by) the decrease in dividend yields, then a capital gains tax rate cut should decrease (increase) the risk premium and return volatility for non- or lower dividend-paying stocks more than for higher dividend-paying stocks. We test which effect dominates in our empirical analysis section.

To summarize, the insights from Merton’s (1973) and Klein’s (2001) asset pricing models suggest that stock return volatility should be increasing in accrued capital gains after a reduction in the capital gains tax rate. Whether volatility should be increasing or decreasing in a firm’s dividend yield is uncertain.

3. Research Design

3.1 Portfolio Construction

To test whether volatility is increasing in accrued capital gains and to adjudicate between opposing predictions for the relation between volatility and the dividend yield, we study the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, which lowered the maximum tax rate on capital gains for individual investors from 28% to 20% for assets held more than 18 months. We choose TRA 97 as our event because the capital gains tax cut was large and relatively unexpected, and the bill included few other changes that might confound our analysis. We analyze all stocks included in the CRSP database from January 1994 to December 2000,[6] excluding April through September of 1997.[7] This sample period enables us to have the same number of observations before and after the announcement.

To examine the changes in return volatilities, we construct eight stock portfolios based on price changes in the last 18 months and dividend distributions (as reported in the monthly CRSP database).[8] We use portfolios, rather than individual firms, because we are interested in the systematic return risk. For portfolios with many stocks, the idiosyncratic risk is small and the systematic risk can be represented by the return volatility of the portfolio. Using portfolios also reduce possible measurement errors and idiosyncratic noise, enabling better estimation accuracy and statistical inference.

We use the firm’s dividend distribution in the prior year to partition stocks into dividend-paying and non-dividend-paying groups.[9] Within each group, we dichotomize stocks into those whose share prices have appreciated and those whose share prices have depreciated over the past 18 months. We then divide the stocks whose share prices have risen into quartiles based on the size of their price appreciation and call these quartiles “gain portfolios.” We do the same with the depreciated stocks and call them “loss portfolios.”

Our procedure creates eight gain portfolios (four dividend-paying and four non-dividend paying gain portfolios) and eight loss portfolios (four dividend-paying and four non-dividend paying loss portfolios). We focus on the portfolios of dividend-paying and non-dividend-paying stocks with either small (the lowest quartile) or large (the highest quartile) price changes, thus, studying the eight portfolios with the most extreme price movements: four gain portfolios and four loss portfolios. NDLki, k=G or L, denotes non-dividend-paying with large gains or losses, DLki, k=G or L, denotes dividend-paying with large gains or losses, NDSki, k=G or L, denotes non-dividend-paying with small gains or losses, and DSki, k=G or L, denotes dividend-paying with small gains or losses.

3.2 Univariate Tests

We conduct univariate time series analyses of return volatility change for each constructed portfolio. We first examine the average monthly return volatility for each year from 1994 to 2000 in an attempt to determine if and when volatility appeared to increase after the rate reduction. Once we identify 1997 as the year where volatility began to increase substantially, we define a categorical variable Post which takes a value of zero under the old tax regime and a value of one under the new tax regime.[10] This allows us to analyze the volatility change in different capital gains tax rate regimes around the event.

3.3 Regression Equation

The multivariate analysis estimates the following panel regression model:

[pic] (5)

where [pic] is portfolio i’s volatility of excess return in month t, k= G or L, and the baseline group is the dividend-paying stocks with small price changes, DSk, k= G or L. Each portfolio dummy takes a value of one if portfolio i belongs to that category and a value of zero otherwise. [pic] refers to a vector of aggregate control variables, and [pic]represents a vector of characteristics specific to constructed portfolio i as of time t. Regressions are conducted separately for the gain and loss portfolios.

Using daily returns from the CRSP database, we compute daily excess returns (return minus risk-free rate) to construct monthly volatility of excess returns.[11] Let [pic] be the excess return on stock portfolio i on day j in month t. Following Schwert (1987), we construct the monthly return volatility for each portfolio-month as follows

[pic] (6)

where [pic]is the sample mean return for stock portfolio i in month t, [pic] is the number of observations in month t.

3.4 Predictions

As mentioned above, regressions are conducted separately for the gain and loss portfolios. The interaction terms ([pic][pic] and [pic]) are the variables of primary interest because the coefficients associated with these terms reflect their respective incremental effects over dummy Post. With regards to the prediction that firms with greater accrued gains experienced a larger increase in stock return volatility after TRA 97 than firms with less accrued gains, we expect that: (1) the coefficient of [pic]is greater than the coefficient on [pic] (indicating that the non-dividend-paying, large gain portfolio experienced a greater increase in volatility than the non-dividend-paying, small gain portfolio following TRA 97) and/or (2) the coefficient on [pic] is greater than zero (indicating that the dividend-paying, large gain portfolio experienced a greater increase in volatility than the benchmark dividend-paying, small gain portfolio following TRA 97). We will interpret findings consistent with these expectations as evidence that more highly appreciated stocks experienced a larger increase in volatility following the 1997 tax rate reduction than did stocks with less appreciation.[12]

With regards to the ambiguous predictions concerning the impact of the dividend yield on the volatility-capital gains tax relation, the regression results will be interpreted as evidence that non-dividend-paying stocks experienced a larger (smaller) increase in volatility following the 1997 tax rate reduction than did dividend-paying firms, if:

1. The coefficient of [pic] is greater (less) than the coefficient on [pic] (indicating the non-dividend paying, large gain portfolio experienced more (less) volatility increase than the dividend-paying, large gain portfolio);

2. The coefficient of [pic] is greater (less) than the coefficient on [pic] (indicating the non-dividend paying, large loss portfolio experienced more (less) volatility increase than the dividend-paying, large loss portfolio);

3. The coefficient of [pic] is positive (negative), (indicating the non-dividend paying, small gain portfolio experienced more (less) volatility increase than the benchmark, dividend-paying, small gain portfolio); and/or

4. The coefficient of [pic] is positive (negative), (indicating the non-dividend paying, small loss portfolio experienced more (less) volatility increase than the benchmark, dividend-paying, small loss portfolio),

3.5 Control Variables

The regression equation includes controls for an extensive set of factors that extant studies have identified as potentially affecting return volatility. These factors can be broadly classified into two categories. The first consists of macroeconomic variables such as interest rates, industrial production growth, and aggregate financial variables, such as term premium and default premium. The second includes portfolio level variables such as stock turnover, transactions costs, growth options, cash flow risk, investor composition, among others. The Appendix provides a complete list of the macroeconomic and portfolio control variables.

3.5.1 Macroeconomic Control Variables

Schwert (1989) uses the industrial production growth (GIP) (proxy for cash flows) and the short-term interest rate (RREL) (proxy for discount rate) as possible macroeconomic factors for the time variation of market return volatility. While both the short-term interest rate and the industrial production growth had a positive effect on stock return volatility, the effect is statistically insignificant in most sample periods. In addition, he finds that the relation between dividend or earnings yields and stock return volatility is unstable. He also finds that the spread between the yields on Baa- versus Aaa-rated corporate bonds has a positive effect on stock return volatility.

Lettau and Ludvigson (2003) propose using CAY, a proxy for the log consumption-aggregate wealth ratio, as a determinant for stock return volatility. They argue that for a wide class of optimal models of consumer behavior, the log consumption-aggregate wealth ratio summarizes expected returns on aggregate wealth or the market portfolio and document that CAY has a statistically significant predictive power for stock market volatility with a negative coefficient.[13] We thus use a measure of the short-term interest rate, the industrial production growth, and the CAY to control for macroeconomic activities.

Several studies also document volatility spillovers across stock markets (King and Wadhwani, 1990; Hamao et al., 1990; Bae and Karolyi, 1994 and Karolyi and Stulz, 1996). To mitigate the volatility spillover effect we include lagged monthly average of daily returns ([pic]) and lagged mean adjusted monthly return volatility ([pic]) for the domestic market portfolio, and lagged mean adjusted monthly return volatility ([pic]) and monthly average of daily return for foreign stock markets ([pic]), respectively, as control variables.

Consequently, we use the following macroeconomic level control variables: risk-free rate, production growth rate, consumption-wealth ratio, market return and its volatility, foreign market return and its volatility. The constructions of these variables are as follow. We construct the stochastically detrended risk-free rate (RREL) by removing the average risk-free rate in the prior twelve months from the risk-free rate in month t as in Campbell and Shiller (1988). The industrial production growth rate (GIP) is calculated using the monthly industrial production index from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. We obtain the proxy for the consumption-wealth ratio (CAY) from Martin Lettau’s website.[14] Since the consumption-wealth ratio is at quarterly frequency, we use linear interpolation to obtain monthly observations. We use the excess return on the value-weighted portfolio of stocks included in the CRSP database as the market return. The returns for the foreign equity markets are based on the Morgan Stanley Capital Markets International (MSCI) ACWIsm ex USA Index. This is a free float-adjusted market capitalization index designed to measure equity market performance in all globally developed and emerging markets outside of the United States.

Table 1 presents the summary statistics for the macroeconomic control variables. For our sample period, the stochastically detrended risk-free rate has a monthly average of 0.021%. Over the same period, the industrial production grew at 0.38% per month on average. The proxy for the consumption-wealth ratio, CAY, has an average of -0.18% and a standard deviation of 2.39%. The average daily excess return for the value-weighted domestic market portfolio is 0.035% and the average monthly return volatility is 4.1%. For the same time period, the average daily return for foreign equity markets is 0.019% with an average monthly volatility slightly lower than the U.S. stock market at 3.5%.

Further, the industrial production growth rate (GIP) and the proxy for the consumption-wealth ratio (CAY) are lower after TRA 97 than before TRA 97. Given the findings in existing studies on the effect of the GIP and CAY on stock return volatility, the former will lower the portfolio volatility while the latter will increase the volatility after the capital gains tax cut. The volatility for both domestic and foreign stock markets is higher, suggesting the need to control for these changes to tease out the effect associated with the tax cut.

3.5.2 Portfolio Control Variables

Cohen, et al. (1976) document that stock turnover has a positive effect on stock return volatility and attribute the effect to new information arrival. Jones and Seguin (1997) find that a reduction in transaction costs is associated with a decline in stock return volatility by investigating the commissions deregulation on U.S. national stock exchanges of May 1, 1975. Booth and Gurun (2008) find that volatility is positively related to the bid-ask spread using the currency market data for Florence (Italy). These studies attribute the findings to improved information flow and market efficiency associated with lower transactions costs. Since both the New York Stock Exchange and the NASDAQ reduced the tick size for stock trading between June 1997 and August 1997, the same time that TRA 97 was being finalized, we control for the bid-ask spread of stock trading.

Xu and Malkiel (2003) and Cao et al. (2008) document that firms’ growth options have a positive effect on stock idiosyncratic risk. Cheung and Ng (1992) and Duffee (1995) suggest a possible positive association between return volatility and a firm’s leverage position. Gompers and Metrick (2001) and Xu and Malkiel (2003) document that the share of institutional ownership has a positive effect on stock return volatility. Xu and Malkiel (2003) also find that firm size has a negative effect on idiosyncratic volatility. Irvine and Pontiff (2008) document that higher idiosyncratic return volatility reflects higher earnings or cash flow variability, suggesting a positive relation between idiosyncratic return volatility and cash flow variability.

Empirical asset pricing studies also suggest that stock return volatility exhibit persistence such that periods of high or low return volatility tend to cluster (Pagan, 1982). This implies a positive relation between current return volatility and past return volatility. Some empirical studies show that large negative stock price changes tend to be followed by periods of high return volatility (Black, 1976 and Christie, 1982) suggesting a negative relation between current return volatility and past stock returns.

Based on the above discussion, we include value-weighted portfolio controls of firm variables in the regression equation: (1) the turnover in the most recent past month (Turnover), constructed by dividing the monthly trading volume by the shares outstanding at the end of the month;[15] (2) the average monthly bid-ask spread in the most recent past month (BidAskSpread) from Trade And Quote (TAQ) database;[16] (3) the ratio of the end-of-month price to the lagged earnings per share as a proxy for the growth option (P/E ratio);[17] (4) the firm’s debt-to-asset ratio (D/A) using data from the COMPUSTAT;[18] (5) the firm’s average individual investor ownership in the most recent past quarter (IND), computed using institutional investors’ ownership information from CDA/Spectrum;[19] (6) the logarithm of the firm’s end-of-month price multiplied by the firm’s total shares outstanding (Size); and (7) the earnings volatility as measured by the coefficient of variation using the 24 quarterly earnings from the previous six years (CV earnings). In addition, we include lagged mean-adjusted return volatility ([pic]) for the portfolio to control for the persistence in return volatility,[20] and lagged monthly average daily portfolio return ([pic]) to control for higher return volatility following large stock price declines. Monthly categorical variables are included to account for possible calendar effect. Annual categorical variables for each year from 1994 to 2000 allow us to examine the mean return volatility changes across different years.

Table 2 presents the summary statistics for the portfolio control variables in the gain portfolios in Panel A and the loss portfolios in Panel B. We find that turnover is higher for the loss portfolios after the TRA 97 but the result is mixed for the gain portfolios. Given that higher turnover is likely associated with higher return volatility, it will contribute to higher return volatility for the loss portfolios. Percentage bid-ask spread is lower after the TRA 97 for all portfolios. This will help to lower volatility of portfolio returns because of improved informational efficiency of the stock market.

Price-earnings ratio is higher for most portfolios after TRA 97. Since P/E ratio is a proxy for firms’ growth option, a higher P/E ratio will likely contribute to higher post-TRA 97 return volatility. Debt-asset ratio is higher for the loss portfolios post-TRA 97. If higher debt-asset ratio is associated with a higher default risk, then a higher D/A will likely contribute to higher return volatility on the loss portfolios post-TRA 97. The percentage individual ownership is also lower for the loss portfolios post-TRA 97. If higher institutional ownership is associated with higher return volatility, this would imply that IND contributes to higher post-TRA return volatility.

Firm size is larger for all portfolios, consistent with a positive average stock return over this period. If large firms have lower return volatility, this will contribute to a lower return volatility in post-TRA 97 for all portfolios. Finally, the coefficient of variation for quarterly earnings is higher for dividend-paying gain portfolios post-TRA 97 but not for the other portfolios. Higher CV earnings may contribute to higher return volatility to dividend-paying gain portfolios post-TRA 97.

4. Empirical Results

4.1 Univariate Analysis

Table 3 reports the summary statistics for portfolio returns and volatility for both the gain portfolios (Panel A) and the loss portfolios (Panel B). The measures provide some initial evidence that stock return volatility was increasing in accrued gains, accrued losses, and for non-dividend-paying portfolios following passage of TRA 97.

For the gain portfolios, the daily excess return ranges from 0.037% for dividend-paying small gain portfolio to 0.057% for the dividend-paying, large gain portfolio. Consistent with the higher average daily excess return of the dividend-paying, large gain portfolio, the portfolio also has a higher average monthly volatility of 4.7% compared with the volatility of 3.2% for the dividend-paying, small gain portfolio, reflecting a positive risk and return tradeoff. Similar patterns are also observed for non-dividend paying portfolios but with larger dispersion in both the average returns and the volatility.

For the loss portfolios, the dividend-paying, small loss portfolio has an average daily excess return of 0.035% and an average monthly volatility of 3.4% while the dividend-paying, large loss portfolio has an average daily excess return of 0.028% with an average monthly return volatility of 4.4%. For the non-dividend paying stocks, the average daily excess return ranges from 0.019% for the small loss portfolio to 0.054% for the large loss portfolio, while the corresponding average monthly return volatility ranges from 5.1% to 6.0%. Similar to the pattern observed for the gain portfolios in Panel A, the non-dividend paying portfolios have higher return volatility than their dividend-paying counterparts.

Next, we attempt to determine whether the increase in stock return volatility occurred in 1997 (as we predict) or in some other year during our investigation period. Table 4 shows the annual average monthly return volatility for the gain portfolios (Panel A) and the loss portfolios (Panel B) across the years, 1994 to 2000. For all eight portfolios analyzed, the return volatilities in 1995 and 1996 are not significantly different from their respective counterpart in the baseline year of 1994. However, the return volatility for 1997 is higher than the baseline year and the difference is statistically significant in four out of eight portfolios at the 5% level and one at the 10% level. Using a one-sided test, we find that the volatility in 1997 always exceeds the volatility in the baseline year at the 10% level, except for the dividend-paying, small loss portfolio (DSL). Since TRA 97 became effective in the middle of the year, the return volatility effect is a mixture of both pre-TRA97 and post-TRA97. Thus, the full impact on the return volatility would show up in 1998. Indeed, as expected, the annual average of monthly return volatility for 1998 is higher than the average in the baseline year for all portfolios at the 1% level.

We also compare the incremental return volatility for 1997 and 1998 with the figures for 1995 and 1996. In seven (two) of the eight portfolios, the incremental return volatility for year 1997 is significantly greater than it is for 1995 (1996). In seven of the eight portfolios, the incremental return volatility for year 1998 is significantly greater than it is for both 1995 and 1996.[21]

Overall, the evidence in Table 4 suggests that stock return volatility experienced a structural shift in 1997, which began a period of rising volatility in the market. Although it is impossible to directly link the volatility jump to TRA 97, the reduction in the capital gains tax rate may have been a contributing factor. Since the empirical evidence points to 1997 as the principal year in which the stock return volatility shifted, we create a dummy variable (Post) to have a value of zero on and before 3/31/1997 and a value of one on and after 10/1/1997. We remove April to September of 1997 from our sample to reduce the transient effects associated with passage of the legislation.

Table 5 compares the average monthly return volatility for all portfolios before and after the capital gains tax rate cut of TRA 97. We find that all portfolios experienced significant return volatility increases. Large gain portfolios experienced higher return volatility increases than did small gain portfolios. To a lesser extent, we find a similar relation between large loss portfolios and small loss portfolios. For dividend-paying stocks, the increase in the average monthly return volatility is 2.11% versus 1.60% for gain portfolios and 1.71% versus 1.56% for loss portfolio. For non-dividend paying stocks, the increase in the average monthly return volatility is 3.47% versus 2.84% for gain portfolios and 2.43% versus 2.15% for loss portfolios.[22]

We also find that the increase is larger for the non-dividend paying portfolios than for the dividend-paying portfolios. The increase in monthly return volatility is 2.84% versus 1.60% for small gain portfolios and 3.47% versus 2.11% for large gain portfolios. A similar pattern also is observed for stocks that had experienced price depreciation, 2.15% versus 1.56% for small loss portfolios and 2.43% versus 1.71% for large loss portfolios.

4.2 Regression Analysis

4.2.1 Primary Findings

Table 6 presents regression coefficients from estimating equation (5) for both gain and loss portfolios.[23] As discussed above, we use the coefficients on [pic][pic] and [pic] to test the predictions in section 3.4.

Klein’s (2001) lock-in model implies that firms with large accrued gains to have experienced greater increases in stock return volatility after TRA 97 than firms with small accrued gains. Consistent with that prediction, the bottom of Table 6 shows that the coefficient on [pic] exceeds the coefficient on [pic] by 1.48 percentage points, which is significant at the 1% level. This finding indicates that the non-dividend-paying, large gain portfolio experienced a greater increase in volatility than the non-dividend-paying, small gain portfolio following TRA 97. The coefficient on [pic]is positive at 0.45 and significant at the 10% level, providing some evidence that the dividend-paying, large gain portfolio experienced a greater increase in volatility than the dividend-paying, small gain portfolio following TRA 97. We interpret these two results as providing evidence that portfolios with large accrued gains experienced a larger increase in return volatility following passage of TRA 97.[24]

With regards to the ambiguous predictions concerning the impact of the dividend yield on the volatility-capital gains tax relation, all four comparisons are consistent with non-dividend-paying firms experiencing larger increases in return volatility post-TRA 97 than did dividend-paying firms: (1) The coefficient of [pic]exceeds the coefficient on [pic] by 1.72 percentage points, which is significant at the 1% level, (2) The coefficient on [pic] exceeds the coefficient on [pic] by 0.90 percentage points, which is significant at the 5% level, (3) [pic] is greater than zero at 0.69 and significant at the 5% level, and (4) [pic] is greater than zero at 0.65 and significant at the 5% level.

We interpret these comparisons as providing evidence that non-dividend-paying stocks experienced a larger increase in volatility following the 1997 rate reduction than did dividend-paying firms. We find no evidence that the converse is true, i.e., the volatility of dividend-paying stocks increased more than it did for non-dividend-paying stocks. This is consistent with the decline in dividend yields post-TRA 97 boosting volatility more than the increased dividend tax penalty did.

To summarize our primary findings, we find evidence that stocks with larger accrued gains experienced a higher return volatility increase than stocks with smaller accrued gains, and non-dividend-paying stocks experienced a higher return volatility increase than dividend-paying stocks following the 1997 capital gains tax cut. These results are consistent with the lock-in effect and a decline in dividend yields affecting stock return volatility.

4.2.2 Control Variables

We now turn to the effects of control variables. The sum of the coefficients for [pic] is positive and statistically significant indicating the existence of return volatility clustering, which is widely documented in existing literature (see Pagan, 1996). Consistent with the “leverage effect”, the sum of the coefficients for [pic] is negative but only statistically significant for loss portfolios. We find no significant effect on return volatility from interest rate. The sum of the coefficients for GIP is positive and marginally significant for gain portfolios. These are in-line with the findings of Schwert (1989). The sum of the coefficients for CAY is negative for gain portfolios and positive for loss portfolios. Lettau and Ludvigson (2003) reported a negative relation between quarterly market return volatility and CAY. Our results suggest that the relation varies across different stocks with respect to their past performances. No significant effect is found on the return volatility from domestic and global equity markets as reflected by the insignificant coefficient estimates for the variables representing the returns and volatility of these markets.

For portfolio controls, we find that turnover has a positive and significant effect on return volatility for both gain and loss portfolios. The finding is consistent with the existing studies which attribute the effect to new information arrival. Consistent with lower transactions costs reducing return volatility due to improved information flows and market efficiency, the bid-ask spread has a positive effect on volatility for loss portfolios suggesting that a lower bid-ask spread reduces return volatility. The price-earnings ratio (P/E) also has a positive effect on volatility for loss portfolios.

The debt-to-asset ratio also has a positive effect on return volatility. But it is only marginally significant for stocks that had experienced price depreciations. Individual investor ownership has no significant effect on volatility. Firm size has a weak positive effect on the return volatility of loss portfolios. This may be attributed to possible different effects of firms’ size on total return volatility and idiosyncratic volatility. Finally, we find that earnings variability measured by the coefficient of variation (CV earnings) has no significant effect on the total return volatility. This again can be attributed to the possible different effects of earnings variability on total return volatility versus idiosyncratic volatility.

4.3 Additional Test of the Dividend Yield

As discussed above, theory suggests that dividends play two roles in the volatility-capital gains tax relation. On the one hand, a reduction in the capital gains tax rate drives up the dividend tax penalty and thus should increase the stock return volatility of high dividend yield firms more than the volatility of other firms. On the other hand, to the extent the rate reduction causes firms to cut their dividends, a greater proportion of the stock return will face capital gains taxation, disproportionately increasing the stock return volatility of non- or low dividend yield stocks.[25] The above tests were designed to adjudicate between these competing predictions, and we infer from the regression coefficients from estimating equation (5) that the second effect dominates the first. This section takes another look at the impact of dividend yields on volatility and produces further support for the domination of the second effect.

Let [pic] be the measure of stock k’s systematic return volatility component due to the market return, [pic] be the variance of the market return, and [pic]be the covariance between the excess return of stock k and the market excess return. We can obtain the systematic return volatility component of stock k as

[pic] (7)

We construct quarterly observations for each firm using daily stock return data from the CRSP database.[26] To calculate the covariance between the return of stock k and the market return for quarter t, [pic] we use daily excess return observations for stock k and the value-weighted CRSP stock index within quarter t, and [pic] as the sample variance using daily observations within quarter t.

3 say.at the first man who loved you (and alwasy arts in the beauty and radiates outward. That rTo empirically examine the relation between systematic return volatility and dividend yield, we estimate the following panel regression model:

[pic] (8)

where Yieldkt is quarterly dividend yield calculated as dividends distributed in the most recent past quarter divided by the end of quarter price, Gainkt and Losskt are the past 18-month price appreciation and depreciation in absolute value, respectively, INDkt and MFkt are the percentage of shareholders who are individuals and mutual funds respectively, Xt refers to the same set of aggregate control variables and Zkt represents the same vector of firm characteristics as in equation (5).[27]

Table 7 reports our estimation results. The estimated coefficient for Yield is negative and highly significant, indicating that decreases in dividend yields are associated with increases in return volatility. The negative relation between return volatility and dividend yield implies that if a firm reduced its dividends in response to a capital gains tax rate cut, then its volatility would rise.

Consistent with that interpretation, the coefficient estimate for the interaction term, [pic], is negative and highly significant. In other words, after TRA 97 slashed the capital gains tax rate, the relation between return volatility and dividend yield grew more negative. This result is consistent with the reduction in dividend yields (the second effect) dominating the dividend tax penalty (the first effect) following the capital gains tax rate cut of the TRA 97. It also indicates that a capital gains tax rate cut increases the return volatility of non- or low dividend-paying stocks more than it increases the return volatility of high dividend-paying stocks, confirming our earlier inference about the impact of the dividend yield on the volatility-capital gains tax relation.[28]

5. Conclusion

This paper empirically examines the impact of a capital gains tax rate cut on the volatility of stock returns by studying a unique change in the tax law—the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997—that allows us to isolate the impact of a capital gain tax rate reduction on return volatility. Considering that capital gains taxes may affect asset prices differently depending on the extent to which these assets are subject to capital gains taxation, we conduct cross-sectional investigation which are designed to detect the differential responses in return volatility of stocks with different characteristics.

Drawing from Merton’s (1973) and Klein’s (2001) asset pricing models, we identify two directly observable cross-sectional characteristics: accrued capital gains and dividend distribution. A capital gains tax rate cut increases the risk premium and return volatility more on stocks with larger accrued capital gains. Consistent with this prediction, we find that stocks with larger accrued capital gains experienced a higher return volatility than stocks with smaller accrued capital gains following the capital gains tax rate cut of TRA 97.

As far as the impact of the dividend yield on the volatility-capital gains tax relation, theory is ambiguous. The dividend effect depends on the relative strength of the dividend tax penalty versus any reduction in the dividend yield. We find that non-dividend paying stocks experienced a larger increase in return volatility than dividend-paying stocks following the tax rate reduction. This result is consistent with the reduction of dividend yield effect dominating the dividend tax penalty effect for the tax cut of TRA 97.

To our knowledge, this is the first study (analytical or empirical) that links capital gains taxes to stock return volatility. Over the last decade, scholars in accounting, economics and finance has begun to study the impact of capital gains taxes on asset prices, focusing on the level of stock returns and trading volume. This paper extends that literature to consider the impact of capital gains taxes on the second moment, i.e., stock return volatility and finds that a reduction in the capital gains tax rate can actually increase the costs of holding equity. We are unaware of any discussion (scholarly or otherwise) of this counter-intuitive outcome and presumably unintended consequence of lowering the capital gains tax rate. We look forward to future work that attempts to net the benefits of lower tax payments against the costs of high stock return volatility.

Appendix: List of Control Variables

Macroeconomic Variables:

RREL --- the stochastically detrended risk-free rate,

GIP --- the industrial production growth rate (GIP),

CAY --- the consumption-wealth ratio,

[pic]--- the lagged mean adjusted monthly return volatility of the US stocks,

[pic] --- the lagged monthly average of daily return for the US stock market,

[pic]--- the lagged mean adjusted monthly return volatility of foreign stocks,

[pic] --- the lagged monthly average of daily return for foreign stock markets.

Portfolio Specific Variables:

Turnover --- the value weighted averages of individual stock turnover,

BidAskSpread --- the value weighted average of individual stocks’ percentage bid-ask spread,

P/E ratio --- the value weighted average of individual stocks’ price-earnings ratios,

D/A --- the value weighted averages of firms’ debt-asset ratios,

IND --- the value weighted average of individual ownership of stocks in the portfolio,

Size --- the logarithm of the market value of the portfolio,

CV earnings --- the value weighted average of firm’s quarterly earnings’ coefficient of variation,

[pic]--- the lagged mean adjusted monthly return volatility of the portfolio,

[pic] --- the lagged monthly average of daily return for the portfolio.

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Table 1 Summary Statistics for Aggregate Control Variables

This table provides summary statistics for the aggregate control variables and the analysis of the differences in these variables before and after TRA1997. RREL is the stochastically detrended risk-free rate; GIP is the growth rate of industrial production; CAY is the demeaned consumption-wealth ratio; [pic] is the monthly average daily excess return of value-weighted CRSP stock index; [pic] is the monthly volatility of the excess return of the value-weighted CRSP stock index; [pic] is the monthly average daily excess return of value-weighted Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) world stock index excluding the United States; and [pic] is the monthly volatility of the excess return of the value-weighted MSCI world stock index excluding the United States. The sample period is from January 1994 to December 2000. Pre-TRA 97 covers the period from 1/1/1994 to 3/31/1997 and Post-TRA 97 spans the period from 10/1/1997 to 12/31/2000.

| |

|Variable |Mean |Std Dev |Pre-TRA 97 |Post-TRA 97 |Difference |p-value |

|Dividend-paying stocks with small gains (DSG) |

|Turnover |0.0593 |0.0155 |0.0503 |0.0682 |0.0179 | ................
................

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