IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/bracre/v41y2009i3p169-183.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Equity ownership segregation, shareholder preferences, and dividend policy in China

Author

Listed:
  • Wei, Gang
  • Xiao, Jason Zezhong

Abstract

We investigate how listed Chinese firms pay different types of dividend to satisfy shareholders, different dividend preferences shaped by institutional factors such as share tradability and asymmetrical taxation. We find that the cash dividend level is significantly and positively related to the proportion of non-publicly tradable shares and this relation is mainly driven by legal person shareholders' preferences for cash dividends. In contrast, the stock dividend level is significantly and positively associated with the proportion of publicly tradable shares. These findings provide an empirical rationale for the current reform on the segregation of equity ownership rights in China.

Suggested Citation

  • Wei, Gang & Xiao, Jason Zezhong, 2009. "Equity ownership segregation, shareholder preferences, and dividend policy in China," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 169-183.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:bracre:v:41:y:2009:i:3:p:169-183
    DOI: 10.1016/j.bar.2009.07.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0890838909000468
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.bar.2009.07.001?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Eugene F. Fama & Kenneth R. French, 2001. "Disappearing Dividends: Changing Firm Characteristics Or Lower Propensity To Pay?," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 14(1), pages 67-79, March.
    2. Smith, Clifford Jr. & Watts, Ross L., 1992. "The investment opportunity set and corporate financing, dividend, and compensation policies," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 263-292, December.
    3. Lakonishok, Josef & Lev, Baruch, 1987. "Stock Splits and Stock Dividends: Why, Who, and When," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 42(4), pages 913-932, September.
    4. M. J. Gordon, 1963. "Optimal Investment And Financing Policy," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 18(2), pages 264-272, May.
    5. Qian Sun & Wilson H. S. Tong & Jing Tong, 2002. "How Does Government Ownership Affect Firm Performance? Evidence from China's Privatization Experience," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(1&2), pages 1-27.
    6. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez‐de‐Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 2000. "Agency Problems and Dividend Policies around the World," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(1), pages 1-33, February.
    7. Malcolm Baker & Jeffrey Wurgler, 2004. "A Catering Theory of Dividends," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 59(3), pages 1125-1165, June.
    8. Kane, Gregory D & Meade, Nancy L, 1998. "Ratio Analysis Using Rank Transformation," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 59-74, January.
    9. Doron Nissim & Amir Ziv, 2001. "Dividend Changes and Future Profitability," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 56(6), pages 2111-2133, December.
    10. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez‐De‐Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 1999. "Corporate Ownership Around the World," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(2), pages 471-517, April.
    11. Merton H. Miller & Franco Modigliani, 1961. "Dividend Policy, Growth, and the Valuation of Shares," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34, pages 411-411.
    12. Qian Sun & Wilson H. S. Tong & Jing Tong, 2002. "How Does Government Ownership Affect Firm Performance? Evidence from China’s Privatization Experience," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(1‐2), pages 1-27.
    13. Shefrin, Hersh M. & Statman, Meir, 1984. "Explaining investor preference for cash dividends," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 253-282, June.
    14. Grinblatt, Mark S. & Masulis, Ronald W. & Titman, Sheridan, 1984. "The valuation effects of stock splits and stock dividends," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 461-490, December.
    15. Robert M. Conroy & Robert S. Harris, 1999. "Stock Splits and Information: The Role of Share Price," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 28(3), Fall.
    16. Benjamin E. Hermalin & Michael S. Weisbach, 1991. "The Effects of Board Composition and Direct Incentives on Firm Performance," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 20(4), Winter.
    17. John R. Graham & Alok Kumar, 2006. "Do Dividend Clienteles Exist? Evidence on Dividend Preferences of Retail Investors," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(3), pages 1305-1336, June.
    18. Hong Zou & Mike B. Adams & Mike J. Buckle, 2003. "Corporate Risks and Property Insurance: Evidence From the People's Republic of China," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 70(2), pages 289-314, June.
    19. Lihui Tian, 2001. "Government Shareholding and the Value of China's Modern Firms," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 395, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    20. Hamish D. Anderson & Lawrence C. Rose & Steven F. Cahan, 2004. "Odd‐lot Costs and Taxation Influences on Stock Dividend Ex‐dates," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(9‐10), pages 1419-1448, November.
    21. Short, Helen & Zhang, Hao & Keasey, Kevin, 2002. "The link between dividend policy and institutional ownership," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 105-122, March.
    22. Larry H. P. Lang & Mara Faccio & Leslie Young, 2001. "Dividends and Expropriation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(1), pages 54-78, March.
    23. Hamish D. Anderson & Lawrence C. Rose & Steven F. Cahan, 2004. "Odd‐lot Costs and Taxation Influences on Stock Dividend Ex‐dates," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(9‐10), pages 1419-1448, November.
    24. Xu, Xiaonian & Wang, Yan, 1999. "Ownership structure and corporate governance in Chinese stock companies," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 75-98.
    25. Prowse, Stephen D, 1992. "The Structure of Corporate Ownership in Japan," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(3), pages 1121-1140, July.
    26. Kalay, Avner, 1982. "Stockholder-bondholder conflict and dividend constraints," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 211-233, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yu, Xin & Wang, Yuetang & Chen, Yingrun & Wang, Guojun, 2021. "Dividend payouts and catering to demands: Evidence from a dividend tax reform," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    2. Dong, Liping & Uchida, Konari & Hou, Xiaohong, 2014. "Block trade targets in China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 188-201.
    3. Chao Kevin Li, 2021. "Wealth effects of dividend regulation: Evidence from China," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 46(2), pages 197-223, May.
    4. Dong, Liping & Uchida, Konari & Hou, Xiaohong, 2020. "Are future capital gain opportunities important in the market for corporate control? Evidence from China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    5. Yung, Kenneth & Jian, Yi, 2017. "Effects of the shareholder base on firm behavior and firm value in China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 370-385.
    6. Jianan Guo, 2016. "Ultimate Controlling Shareholders and Dividend Payout Policy in Chinese Stock Market," Review of Pacific Basin Financial Markets and Policies (RPBFMP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 19(02), pages 1-35, June.
    7. Chin-Sheng Huang & Chun-Fan You & Hueh-Chen Lin, 2014. "Dividend-Yield Trading Strategies: Evidence from the Chinese Stock Market," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 4(2), pages 382-399.
    8. Li, Xindan & Geng, Ziyang & Subrahmanyam, Avanidhar & Yu, Honghai, 2017. "Do wealthy investors have an informational advantage? Evidence based on account classifications of individual investors," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 1-18.
    9. Dasilas, Apostolos & Grose, Chris, 2019. "Valuation effects of tax-free versus taxed cash distributions," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 307-321.
    10. Evans Opoku‐Mensah & Yuming Yin, 2023. "Controlling shareholders' influence on acquisition decisions and value creation: An empirical study from China," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(2), pages 1965-1980, April.
    11. Xiaoyan Chen, 2017. "Improved corporate governance and Chinese seasoned equity offering announcement effects," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 57(2), pages 401-428, June.
    12. Vassili Joannides & Nicolas Berland & Danture Wickramasinghe, 2010. "Post-Hofstede diversity/cultural studies: what contributions to accounting knowledge?," Grenoble Ecole de Management (Post-Print) hal-01661685, HAL.
    13. Vassili Joannides & Nicolas Berland & D. T. Wickramasinghe, 2010. "Post-Hofstede diversity/cultural studies: what contributions to accounting knowledge?," Post-Print hal-00676570, HAL.
    14. Hou, Wenxuan & Kuo, Jing-Ming & Lee, Edward, 2012. "The impact of state ownership on share price informativeness: The case of the Split Share Structure Reform in China," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(4), pages 248-261.
    15. Nhut H. Nguyen & David Y. Wang, 2013. "Stock dividends in China: signalling or liquidity explanations?," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 53(2), pages 513-535, June.
    16. Vassili Joannides & Nicolas Berland & Danture Wickramasinghe, 2010. "Post-Hofstede diversity/cultural studies: what contributions to accounting knowledge?," Post-Print hal-01661685, HAL.
    17. Hodgkinson, Lynn & Partington, Graham, 2013. "Capital gains tax, managed funds and the value of dividends: The case of New Zealand," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(4), pages 271-283.
    18. Xiao, Gang, 2015. "Trading and earnings management: Evidence from China's non-tradable share reform," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 67-90.
    19. William Bradford & Chao Chen & Song Zhu, 2017. "Conservative Accounting, IFRS Convergence and Cash Dividend Payments: Evidence from China," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 23(3), pages 376-414, June.
    20. Anderson, Hamish & Chi, Jing & Liao, Jing, 2019. "Foreign strategic ownership and minority shareholder protection," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 34-49.
    21. Beladi, Hamid & Hu, May & Li, Silei & Yang, JingJing, 2022. "Dual-class share structure on the dividend payout policy: Evidence from China Concepts Stocks," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    22. Zijian Cheng & Charles P. Cullinan & Zhangxin (Frank) Liu & Junrui Zhang, 2021. "Cross‐listings and dividend size and stability: evidence from China," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(1), pages 415-465, March.
    23. Liu, Chunyan & Uchida, Konari & Yang, Yufeng, 2014. "Controlling shareholder, split-share structure reform and cash dividend payments in China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 339-357.
    24. Reza Zare & Javad Moradi (Ph.D) & Hashem Valipour(Ph.D), 2013. "Dividend Policy and Information Asymmetry from the Signaling Perspective," Asian Economic and Financial Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 3(4), pages 445-463, April.
    25. Vassili Joannides & Nicolas Berland & D. T. Wickramasinghe, 2010. "Post-Hofstede diversity/cultural studies: what contributions to accounting knowledge?," Grenoble Ecole de Management (Post-Print) hal-00676570, HAL.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Isakov, Dusan & Weisskopf, Jean-Philippe, 2013. "Do not wake sleeping dogs: Pay-out policies in founding family firms," FSES Working Papers 443, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, University of Freiburg/Fribourg Switzerland.
    2. Darakhshan Younis & Attiya Yasmin Javid, 2014. "Market Imperfections and Dividend Policy Decisions of Manufacturing Sector of Pakistan," PIDE-Working Papers 2014:99, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics.
    3. Schmid, Thomas & Ampenberger, Markus & Kaserer, Christoph & Achleitner, Ann-Kristin, 2010. "Controlling shareholders and payout policy: do founding families have a special 'taste for dividends'?," CEFS Working Paper Series 2010-01, Technische Universität München (TUM), Center for Entrepreneurial and Financial Studies (CEFS).
    4. Trojanowski, G., 2004. "Ownership structure as a mechanism of corporate governance," Other publications TiSEM 5dbc874d-d1d0-44a5-9717-8, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    5. Hussein Abedi Shamsabadi & Byung-Seong Min & Richard Chung, 2016. "Corporate governance and dividend strategy: lessons from Australia," International Journal of Managerial Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 12(5), pages 583-610, October.
    6. Erhan Kilincarslan, 2018. "The Factors Determining the Dividend Policy of Financial Firms Listed on the Borsa Istanbul," Bogazici Journal, Review of Social, Economic and Administrative Studies, Bogazici University, Department of Economics, vol. 32(1), pages 75-109.
    7. Breuer, Wolfgang & Rieger, M. Oliver & Soypak, K. Can, 2014. "The behavioral foundations of corporate dividend policy a cross-country analysis," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 247-265.
    8. Stuart Archbold & Elisabete F. Simões Vieira, 2010. "Corporate Dividend Policies in Bank-based and Market-based Systems: Survey Evidence from UK and Portugal," Portuguese Journal of Management Studies, ISEG, Universidade de Lisboa, vol. 0(1), pages 34-64.
    9. Renneboog, Luc & Trojanowski, Grzegorz, 2011. "Patterns in payout policy and payout channel choice," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(6), pages 1477-1490, June.
    10. Golubov, Andrey & Lasfer, Meziane & Vitkova, Valeriya, 2020. "Active catering to dividend clienteles: Evidence from takeovers," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(3), pages 815-836.
    11. du Jardin, Philippe & Séverin, Eric, 2011. "Dividend policy," MPRA Paper 44382, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Szomko Natalia, 2015. "Investor Reaction to Information on Final Dividend Payouts on the Warsaw Stock Exchange – an Event Study Analysis," International Journal of Management and Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, Collegium of World Economy, vol. 45(1), pages 127-146, March.
    13. Gugler, Klaus, 2003. "Corporate governance, dividend payout policy, and the interrelation between dividends, R&D, and capital investment," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(7), pages 1297-1321, July.
    14. Basharat Khan & Qiujun Zhao & Amjad Iqbal & Irfan Ullah & Shahab Aziz, 2022. "Internal Dynamics of Dividend Policy in East-Asia: A Comparative Study of Japan and South Korea," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(2), pages 21582440221, April.
    15. Renneboog, Luc & Szilagyi, Peter G., 2020. "How relevant is dividend policy under low shareholder protection?," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    16. Anneleen Michiels & Wim Voordeckers & Nadine Lybaert & Tensie Steijvers, 2015. "Dividends and family governance practices in private family firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 44(2), pages 299-314, February.
    17. Hadfi Bilel & Kouki Mondher, 2021. "What Can explain catering of dividend? Environment information and investor sentiment," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 45(3), pages 428-450, July.
    18. Choi, Young Mok & Park, Kunsu, 2019. "Does foreign currency-denominated debt affect dividend payout policy? Evidence from Korea," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 20-34.
    19. Kuo, Nan-Ting & Lee, Cheng-Few, 2013. "Effects of dividend tax and signaling on firm valuation: Evidence from taxable stock dividend announcements," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 157-180.
    20. Gyimah, Daniel & Gyapong, Ernest, 2021. "Managerial entrenchment and payout policy: A catering effect," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:bracre:v:41:y:2009:i:3:p:169-183. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/the-british-accounting-review .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.