原文: The interaction of corporate dividend policy and capital structure decisions under differential tax regimes 1、The interaction of capital structure and dividend policy Firm values are normalized with respect to the firm with zero debt and zero dividend payout. The panels in the figure indicate that impact of corporate dividend and capital structure policies on firm value is directly affected by the pertinent tax rates at the time. We next discuss the implications of the model for dividend and capital structure policies under several historical tax regimes. Three representative tax regimes (1979–1981, 1988–1990, 1993–2002) were chosen for analysis out of the ten that were in existence at some time during the three decades since 1979. The three representative tax regimes exhibit distinctly different set of tax rates both in terms of absolute values and relative to each other. For this reason, these three contrasting regimes provide a suitable setting to test the value implications of our model. If our model provides a reasonable representation of firms’ capital structure and dividend policy decisions, the three contrasting tax regimes would be the ideal environment to observe the fit between the model’s predictions and the empirical observations. 2、Years 1979–1981 The application of the model using the tax rates from the period 1979–1981 reveals a subtle effect. The table and the figure depict normalized firm value, VD,Π/V0,0, as a function of the leverage D and the dividend payout π. The gain from leverage is positive only when the firm is at a relatively high payout ratio (above approximately 40%), with the maximum gain occurring at full (100%) payout. Interestingly, at a dividend payout level lower than 40%, increasing leverage lowers firm value. The reversal of the leverage effect at lower payout ratios is driven by the relative levels of tax rates. During the years 1979–1981, the top marginal tax rate for personal e was very high parison to the tax rat
