Do foreign firms cater to American investors’ dividend desires?

Abstract

Will foreign firms alter their dividend policies to cater to minority American investors’ tax preferences? Conceptually, in the context of foreign controlling shareholders making the tunneling-and-dividend decisions, foreign firms will not do so unless they value a broad American shareholder base. During a U.S. tax cut that increases American investors’ dividend desires only from qualified foreign corporations (QFCs), the dividend policies of those QFCs domiciled in low withholding tax jurisdictions exhibit a significantly stronger catering pattern than others. The conceptual framework and the empirical results jointly suggest that some foreign firms see the value of a broad American shareholder base.