Practical Applications of Tax Reform, Company Value, and Biden Proposals

Abstract

In Tax Reform, Company Value, and Biden Proposals, from The Journal of Investing 2021 special issue on trading, authors Robin Walker (of Oklahoma City University), John Wingender, and Thomas Purcell (both of Creighton University) examine the economic impacts of announcements related to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA). The TCJA reduced corporate tax rates and made other changes intended to encourage companies to operate and invest in the United States. The authors studied whether public announcements related to the TCJA drove short-term changes in the stock prices of publicly traded companies.

The authors tracked stock returns during the five-day period after each of several major TCJA-related announcements in late 2017. They found that all but the first announcement had a positive impact on stock prices, possibly because the later announcements indicated that the TCJA would implement significant corporate tax cuts. The announcements particularly boosted the stocks of US companies, dividend-paying companies, and companies paying a high tax rate. The authors say this information can be helpful to investors and companies making stock-related decisions during any future efforts by the current administration to make further changes to the tax laws.