The Impact of Securities Transaction Taxes on the Chinese Stock Market

This paper analyzes the impact of changes in the securities transaction tax (STT) rate on the local A-share market in China. We find that, on average, a 22-basis-point increase in the STT rate is associated with about a 28 percent drop in trading volume, and a 17-basis-point reduction in the STT rate is associated with about an 89 percent increase in trading volume in the Chinese A-share market. Both increases and reductions in the STT rate result in significant increases in market volatility. In addition, increases in the STT rate have mixed effects on market efficiency, either improving or curbing it. Reductions usually either make the market less efficient or have no effect on it. The empirical results show that levying the STT on trading is not an effective tool to regulate the stock market, at least not in this emerging market.market volatility, securities transaction tax, stock market,