The effect of managerial ability on dividend policy: how do talented managers view dividend payouts?

We contribute to the literature on dividend policy by relaxing Miller and Modigliani’s (1961) perfect capital market assumptions and incorporating a factor that has not been investigated before, that is, variation in managerial ability. Based on more than 24 000 observations across over 20 years (1989–2011), our results show that firms with more talented executives are more likely to pay dividends and, among firms that pay dividends, pay significantly larger dividends. A rise in managerial ability by one SD raises the propensity to pay dividends by 27% and, for firms that pay dividends, increases dividend payouts by 29%. Our results are consistent with the notion that talented managers, confident in their ability to keep the firm profitable, are more willing to pay larger dividends because they are less concerned about having to reduce dividends in the future. Further analysis shows that our results are not likely vulnerable to endogeneity.     

媒体关注与公司现金股利支付*

随着中国证监会针对上市公司现金股利支付行为的一系列政策的出台,公司的现金股利支付行为成为广受热议的重点话题。本文从媒体关注视角研究了中国上市公司的现金股利支付行为。通过实证研究,本文得到如下研究结论：（1）媒体关注的增多可以显著提高公司未来股利支付意愿和支付水平;（2）媒体关注与“铁公鸡”公司、“微股利”公司的比例显著负相关;（3）与国有控股公司相比,媒体关注对民营控股公司未来股利支付意愿和支付水平的正面影响更为显著;（4）媒体关注对第一类和第二类代理问题更严重的公司的现金股利支付意愿和支付水平的正向影响更强。进一步的研究还显示,媒体关注与现金股利支付意愿和支付水平的正相关关系在管理层持股比例低、非国际四大会计师事务所审计、分析师跟踪少的公司样本中更显著。以上结论说明媒体关注是除行政治理外,另外一种督促上市公司支付现金股利的重要机制。本文除了具有丰富媒体治理和股利政策两方面理论研究的贡献外,对监管机构规范资本市场股利支付行为和保护投资者权益具有重要政策启示。     

Reducing agency conflicts through bank dividend payout decisions: the role of opacity and ownership structure

We empirically examine whether banks’ dividend decisions are influenced by their degree of opacity and ownership structure. We find that banks with concentrated ownership structure pay lower dividends when they have high degrees of opacity, in line with the hypothesis that majority shareholders pay lower dividends to extract higher levels of private benefits. We do not observe such expropriation behaviour from managers in widely held banks. Further analysis shows that higher levels of shareholder protection and stronger supervisory regimes help to constrain opportunistic behaviour of majority shareholders. Our findings have critical policy implications for the Basel 3 implementation of restrictions on dividend payouts.     

Firm location and corporate dividend policy: evidence from China

We investigate the relation between a firm’s geographic location and its dividend policy. We find that firms headquartered in the National Central Cities, cities with high-speed rail (HSR), and with shorter distance to the nearest National Central City pay higher dividends. We find evidence that attributes the higher dividends to an increase in the number of analysts’ site visits, greater information transparency, and a reduction in financial constraints. Finally, the observed increases in dividends tend to be stronger for firms that benefit the most from improvements in the information environment after the arrival of HSR, such as firms located in regions without regional airports, firms located in areas with a lower regional gross domestic product, firms located a greater distance to the closest National Central City, and firms that are smaller, state-owned, have a shorter listing history in the exchanges, and have a more concentrated ownership.     

Dividend policy and investor pressure

The economics of dividend policy has focused on the single tight narrative that dividends keep managers honest, mitigating concerns that they over-invest. This article provides a critique of that agency narrative, arguing that pressure from short-term focused investors, executives and board members pushes the firm into preemptive actions of returning too much cash via dividends. We analyze three channels of influence for investor pressure through 1) threat of takeovers, 2) shareholder value oriented corporate governance, measured by director independence and board equity incentives, and 3) trading and institutional ownership patterns. We find that firms adopt a higher dividend payout to discourage takeover bids. Also, FTSE 100 firms, that are most focused on shareholder value governance in the form of equity-based compensation and a higher share of independent directors, display a higher dividend payout. Frequency of trading and ownership by transient investors seeking current profits also predict increased dividend payout. Traditional agency theory, focused on dividends as a tool for managerial discipline, is not strongly supported by the results, which rather support a narrative of short-term investor pressure on firms irrespective of investment opportunities.     

Exploring the causal effect of religious piety on dividend policy: evidence from historical religious identification

Theory suggests that religious piety is associated with greater risk aversion and more conservative financial policies. Returns to shareholders through dividends are much more certain than returns through capital gains expected to be realized far into the future. We hypothesize that religious piety leads to a higher likelihood of dividend payments. We exploit the variation in religious piety across the US counties and estimate the effect of religion on dividend policy. To draw a causal inference, we use historical religious piety in 1971 as the instrument. Our two-stage least squares results confirm that religious piety induces firms to pay larger dividends.     

Do corporate governance mechanisms affect cash dividends? An empirical investigation of UK firms

The study examines whether corporate governance mechanisms and the compliance with good governance practice are related to cash dividends. In particular, the study assesses the effect of institutional ownership and board structure on the decision to pay cash dividends. A study on UK firms is interesting because firms are expected to voluntarily structure governance mechanisms based on their own needs. We find that institutional owners positively affect cash dividend payments, suggesting that UK institutions are effective in forcing firms to disgorge cash. There is limited evidence that independent directors affect the cash dividends. The results also show that firm specifics affect the cash dividends, namely, business risk, firm size, and leverage ratio. The results are consistent across several robustness checks.     

股权集中度视角下高管团队特征对现金股利政策的影响

现金股利政策是上市公司对盈利进行分配或留存用于再投资的决策问题,在公司经营中起着至关重要的作用。探究了高管团队特征(规模、年龄、性别、学历背景)对企业现金股利政策的影响,研究发现管理团队的规模越大、平均年龄越大,企业现金股利支付率越高,表明企业管理团队人数越多,年龄越大,越容易采用较高的股利支付率,而管理团队的平均学历越高,越倾向于选择较低的现金股利分配率。说明更高学历的管理层认为,较低的现金股利支付水平才是有利于企业发展的股利支付水平。男性管理层和女性管理者对企业支付现金股利的高低并没有明显的差异。进一步研究发现,企业的股权越集中,管理者的特征对现金股利政策的影响会被弱化。也就是说,股权集中度会显著削弱管理者特征对公司现金股利政策的影响,该实证结果也印证了上市公司中代理问题的普遍存在。研究结果可为企业管理团队的合理配置提出可以借鉴的依据以及实证结果的支持。     

公司治理结构、股利分配与企业创新绩效三元关系实证研究

公司治理是现代企业管理理论的重要组成部分,直接影响公司经营状况、股利政策及创新绩效。采用回归分析法对公司治理、股利支付及企业创新绩效关系进行实证分析。研究发现,董事会结构、第一大股东持股比例与公司创新绩效显著正相关;第一大股东持股比例及前十大股东持股比例平方和越高,企业越倾向高股利支付;高股利支付与企业创新绩效间并无正相关关系,股利支付与企业创新绩效间存在负相关关系,但不显著。最后,从完善公司治理和股利政策方面提出了促进企业技术创新的政策建议。     

产权性质、税收成本与上市公司股利政策

文章研究了上市公司控股股东的税收成本差异对上市公司股利政策的影响。作为股利政策的决策者,控股股东须权衡股利政策的成本和收益,其中税收成本是影响股利政策的重要因素之一。不同性质的控股股东对税收成本的关注程度存在显著差异:由于税利分离程度较高,民营控股股东对现金股利的税收成本更为敏感,尤其是在自然人直接控股的上市公司。研究发现,自然人控股公司最不偏好采用现金股利的分配方式以规避税收成本,而国有控股公司更倾向于发放较高的现金股利。实证结果支持了文章的假说,即不同产权所隐含的税收成本差异是影响上市公司股利政策的重要因素。     

Dividend taxes,corporate investment,and ‘Q’

Taxes on corporate distributions have traditionally been regarded as a ‘double tax’ on corporate income. This view implies that while the total effective tax rate on corporate source income affects real economic decisions, the distribution of this tax burden between the shareholders and the corporation is irrelevant. Recent research has suggested an alternative to this traditional view. One explanation of why firms in the United States pay dividends in spite of the heavy tax liabilities associated with this form of distribution is that the stock market capitalizes the tax payments associated with corporate distributions. This capitalization leaves investors indifferent at the margin between a corporation's decision to pay out dividends or to retain earnings. This alternative view holds that while changes in the dividend tax rate will affect shareholder wealth, they will have no impact on corporate investment decisions.This paper develops econometric tests which distinguish between these two views of dividend taxation. By extending Tobin's ‘q’ theory of investment to incorporate taxes at both the corporate and personal levels, the implications of each view for corporate investment decisions can be derived. The competing views may be tested by comparing the performance of investment equations estimated under each theory's predictions. British time series data are particularly appropriate for testing hypotheses about dividend taxes because of the substantial postwar variation in effective tax rates on corporate distributions. The econometric results suggest that dividend taxes have important effects on investment decisions.     

基于经济波动的控股股东与股利政策关系研究——来自中国证券市场的经验证据

文章考察了控股股东和经济波动对上市公司股利政策的影响.结果表明,从控股股东的角度来看,第一大股东持股比例越高,公司越愿意支付股利,尤其是现金股利.当考虑了经济波动的影响时我们发现,在经济下降期,公司不再愿意支付股利,即使支付股利,公司也偏向于支付股票股利.此外,不同股权性质的公司在经济波动期的股利政策也不一样.在经济下降期,非国有控股公司第一大股东比例越高,股票股利支付数量越少,现金股利支付数量越多,但是,国有控股公司这种变化并不显著,说明相对于国有控股公司,非国有企业的股利政策更容易受到经济波动的影响.     

派现行为下的控股股东利益转移问题研究

本文运用深市上市公司的数据,对我国上市公司派现与控股股东利益转移行为之间的关系进行了实证分析.结果表明,控股股东将现金股利作为利益转移的方式之一,控股股东控股优势越大,公司派现意愿越强,派现水平也越高;派现意愿与公司上市年限负相关,而与上年配股情况正相关;此外,债务和股权制衡能够在一定程度上制约这种利用派现政策实施的利益转移行为.     

股权结构与股利政策的发展综述及展望

作为公司财务理论三大支柱之一的股利政策,一直是一个难解之谜。2006年,股权分置改革取得了阶段性的胜利,它解决了长期以来因“同股不同权”而带来的公司治理方面的诸多问题。国际上对股权结构主要从股权流通性、股权集中度、股权制衡度等方面进行探究,而我国关于股权结构与股利政策关系的实证研究主要集中在股权流通性上,研究表明：我国非流通股偏好现金股利,而流通股偏好股票股利。国外研究表明：股权集中度与股利支付水平负相关,而我国则相反。至于股权制衡度,欧洲与亚洲亦得出相反的结论。     

Stock market reaction to dividend announcements: Evidence from the Greek stock market

This study investigates the market reaction to cash dividend announcements for the period 2000–2004 employing data from the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE). In particular, the paper examines both the stock price and trading volume response to dividend distribution announcements. Dividend distributions in Greece demonstrate noticeable differences to those of the US, the UK and other developed markets. First, dividends in Greece are paid annually rather than quarterly or semi-annually. Second, the Greek corporate laws 2190/1920 and 148/1967 specifically designate the minimum amount for distribution from the taxed corporate profits. Third, neither tax on dividends nor on capital gains was imposed during the period under examination. Fourth, Greek listed firms are characterized by high ownership concentration where major owners are usually involved in management and therefore have less need for dividend announcements as an information source. Despite this neutralized information and tax environment, we document significant market reaction to dividend change announcements, lending support to the “information content of dividends hypothesis”.     

Voluntary zero-dividend paying firms: characteristics and performance

We investigate the characteristics of ‘voluntary zero dividend paying’ firms and their subsequent performance. We define NDR_HP (no dividends or repurchases, with high profitability) firms as those with profits above the industry median and yet pay out zero dividends (including share repurchases). Signalling, agency, residual dividend, and life cycle theories explain firm characteristics and dividend payouts, to which we add the novel variables CEO overconfidence and market competition. We discover that growth opportunity, capital expenditure, and CEO overconfidence are positively related to NDR_HP. In addition, we find that the NDR_HP group outperforms all other groups in terms of future performance.     

THE IDIOSYNCRATIC PATTERN OF RUSSIAN CORPORATE DIVIDEND POLICY DURING ITS FORMATIVE ERA

In general, the dividend payout pattern for Russian corporations during their formative period from 1998 to 2006 was seemingly independent of company earnings, size, growth opportunities and capital structure, as such firm policies appear not to conform to any of the main extant dividend payout theories. The only exception we find is that of utility firms, which were inclined to pay consistent dividends. Utility firms tended to be partly owned by the state and were subject to price regulation. Consequently, they may have had limited investment prospects. Our findings suggest that dividend payout policies in non‐market economies may be driven by non‐traditional determinants, such as the state's overall industrial strategy.     

Dividend taxation and intertemporal tax arbitrage

We analyze the effects of changes in dividend tax policy using a life-cycle model of the firm, in which new firms first access equity markets, then grow internally, and finally pay dividends when they have reached steady state. We find that unanticipated permanent changes in tax rates have only small effects on aggregate investment, since macroeconomic dynamics are dominated by mature firms for which dividend taxation is not distortionary. Anticipated or temporary dividend tax changes, on the other hand, create incentives for firms to engage in inter-temporal tax arbitrage so as to reduce investors' tax burden. For example, a temporary tax cut – the type most likely to be enacted by policymakers – induces firms to accelerate dividend payments while tax rates are low, which reduces their cash holdings and makes them capital-constrained when large investment opportunities arise. This can significantly lower aggregate investment for periods after the tax cut.     

行业因素影响上市公司首发现金股利决策吗?

本文通过对2001～2008年424个上市公司首次发放现金股利行为的跟踪调查,系统性地从行业股利分配、行业竞争程度、行业成长性以及行业自信水平四个维度研究了行业因素对上市公司首发现金股利决策的影响。研究发现:(1)行业整体股利分配对上市公司首发股利产生显著正面影响,表明上司公司股利的首次发放具有行业追随效应;(2)行业成长性和行业自信水平对上市公司的首发现金股利产生负向影响,但行业竞争程度并没有对上市公司首发股利产生显著影响;(3)半强制分红政策强化了行业因素对上市公司首发现金股利政策的影响。     

The changing role of dividends: a firm-level study from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century

Abstract .  We investigate the changes in dividend policy for one of North America's oldest banks (and Canada's first bank), Bank of Montreal, over time by considering the relationships between dividends, prices and earnings for this prominent firm. In the early part of the sample we find that annual dividend and earnings changes are highly variable, with dividend changes following changes in earnings and a larger portion of investors' returns coming from dividends. Since World War II dividend policy has been characterized by more stable and gradual increases in dividends, with more of investors' returns coming from capital gains. Overall, our results suggest that investors' perception of dividends has changed over time, allowing management to pay smaller dividends and reinvest funds in the firm.