Corporate Financial Policy And Investor Taxation In Austria: An Empirical Investigation

The paper analyzes the impact of investor capital gains taxation on corporate leverage of Austrian corporations. The authors conduct their analyses for a unique sample of Austrian firms, including a large part of non-listed corporations. By means of regression analyses they show that the capital gains tax rate, the fraction of taxable investors of a corporation as well as the dividend payout ratio are significant determinants of the financing decisions of Austrian firms. Legal status, listing and corporate profitability also affect the debt ratio of corporations in Austria.