Professor Maximilian Todtenhaupt, Leibniz University Hannover (LUH)

"Dividend Taxes and Consumption"
Wednesday, 22 October 2025. 12:00-13:30 

Room 282, The Hothouse, Adam Smith Business School Building

Abstract

We examine the effect of increasing dividend taxes on shareholders’ consumption using administrative tax data from Norway. Exploiting a large dividend tax increase, we show that higher dividend taxes lead to a persistent decline in consumption of owners of privately firms as well as publicly traded firms. We also show that owners partially offset the consumption decline by reducing private savings. Firms, in turn, increase retained earnings but do not expand productive investment. Instead, they accumulate financial assets, suggesting a real location of savings to the corporate level. Our findings highlight the consequences of dividend taxation on consumption and capital allocation.

Bio

Professor Todtenhaupt is a Professor of Public Finance at Leibniz University Hannover (LUH) and an Adjunct Professor at Norwegian School of Economics (NHH). I hold a Ph.D. from the University of Mannheim. My work focuses on the empirical analysis of tax incentives for business activity as well as on international tax competition for mobile capital and the effect of taxation on innovation and growth. I am a CESifo Research Affiliate, a Research Associate at the Centre for European Economic Research and a member of the Norwegian Centre for Taxation (NoCeT).


For further information, please contact business-school-research@glasgow.ac.uk

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First published: 6 October 2025

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