IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecosys/v44y2020i4s0939362518304461.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does having a semimandatory dividend policy enhance investor confidence? Research on dividend-financing behavior

Author

Listed:
  • Yao, Wenyun
  • Zhang, Lei
  • Hu, Jianxiong

Abstract

Enhancing investor confidence is crucial for sustainable and stable development of the capital market. Does having a semimandatory policy to pay dividends help to enhance investor confidence? What is the origin of the cash dividend paid by companies to meet regulatory requirements so as to enhance investor confidence? Based on these considerations, this paper uses the exogenous policy shock that in 2006 the China Securities Regulatory Commission required listed companies to pay accumulated dividends of no less than 20 % of average annual distributable profits and adopts a panel difference-in-difference estimation strategy to explore whether this new policy has significantly enhanced investor confidence. In addition, it explores the source of external financing for cash dividends by examining dividend-financing behavior. The results show that the semimandatory dividend policy has led to new dividend-financing behavior by listed companies. The cash dividend paid by companies comes mainly from external financing, especially a net increase in debt. The paper expands the traditional theory of dividend payment and provides a reference point for decision-making by shareholders, company managers, and regulatory agencies.

Suggested Citation

  • Yao, Wenyun & Zhang, Lei & Hu, Jianxiong, 2020. "Does having a semimandatory dividend policy enhance investor confidence? Research on dividend-financing behavior," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 44(4).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecosys:v:44:y:2020:i:4:s0939362518304461
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecosys.2020.100812
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0939362518304461
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ecosys.2020.100812?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. Fabio Braggion & Lyndon Moore, 2011. "Dividend Policies in an Unregulated Market: The London Stock Exchange, 1895--1905," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 24(9), pages 2935-2973.
    2. Michael A. Goldstein & Abhinav Goyal & Brian M. Lucey & Cal B. Muckley, 2015. "The Global Preference for Dividends in Declining Markets," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 50(4), pages 575-609, November.
    3. Ron Kaniel & Gideon Saar & Sheridan Titman, 2008. "Individual Investor Trading and Stock Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(1), pages 273-310, February.
    4. Malcolm Baker & Jeffrey Wurgler, 2006. "Investor Sentiment and the Cross‐Section of Stock Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(4), pages 1645-1680, August.
    5. Brav, Alon & Graham, John R. & Harvey, Campbell R. & Michaely, Roni, 2005. "Payout policy in the 21st century," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(3), pages 483-527, September.
    6. Jensen, Michael C, 1986. "Agency Costs of Free Cash Flow, Corporate Finance, and Takeovers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(2), pages 323-329, May.
    7. Andrea Gamba & Alexander Triantis, 2008. "The Value of Financial Flexibility," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(5), pages 2263-2296, October.
    8. Malcolm Baker & Jeffrey Wurgler, 2004. "A Catering Theory of Dividends," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 59(3), pages 1125-1165, June.
    9. Gustavo Grullon & Roni Michaely & Bhaskaran Swaminathan, 2002. "Are Dividend Changes a Sign of Firm Maturity?," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 75(3), pages 387-424, July.
    10. Xin Chang & Sudipto Dasgupta & George Wong & Jiaquan Yao, 2014. "Cash-Flow Sensitivities and the Allocation of Internal Cash Flow," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 27(12), pages 3628-3657.
    11. Shefrin, Hersh M. & Statman, Meir, 1984. "Explaining investor preference for cash dividends," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 253-282, June.
    12. Denis, David J. & Osobov, Igor, 2008. "Why do firms pay dividends? International evidence on the determinants of dividend policy," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(1), pages 62-82, July.
    13. Miller, Merton H & Rock, Kevin, 1985. "Dividend Policy under Asymmetric Information," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 40(4), pages 1031-1051, September.
    14. DeAngelo, Harry & DeAngelo, Linda & Stulz, Rene M., 2006. "Dividend policy and the earned/contributed capital mix: a test of the life-cycle theory," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(2), pages 227-254, August.
    15. Myers, Stewart C., 1984. "Capital structure puzzle," Working papers 1548-84., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management.
    16. Enrico C. Perotti & Ernst-Ludwig von Thadden, 2006. "The Political Economy of Corporate Control and Labor Rents," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 114(1), pages 145-174, February.
    17. Myers, Stewart C, 1984. "The Capital Structure Puzzle," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 39(3), pages 575-592, July.
    18. Stewart C. Myers, 1984. "Capital Structure Puzzle," NBER Working Papers 1393, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Alok Kumar & Charles M.C. Lee, 2006. "Retail Investor Sentiment and Return Comovements," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(5), pages 2451-2486, October.
    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. Mohsin, Muhammad & Ullah, Hafeez & Iqbal, Nadeem & Iqbal, Wasim & Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad, 2021. "How external debt led to economic growth in South Asia: A policy perspective analysis from quantile regression," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 423-437.
    2. Fakhrul Hasan & Umar Nawaz Kayani & Tonmoy Choudhury, 2023. "Behavioral Risk Preferences and Dividend Changes: Exploring the Linkages with Prospect Theory Through Empirical Analysis," Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management, Springer;Global Institute of Flexible Systems Management, vol. 24(4), pages 517-535, December.

    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. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. Maria Elisabete Duante Neves, 2017. "Payout and Firm's Catering," International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), vol. 0(4), pages 104-132.
    4. repec:ers:journl:v:v:y:2017:i:4:p:104-132 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Shumi Akhtar, 2018. "Dividend payout determinants for Australian Multinational and Domestic Corporations," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 58(1), pages 11-55, March.
    6. Hu, May & Tuilautala, Mataiasi & Kang, Yuni, 2019. "Bandwagon effect: Special dividend payments," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 339-363.
    7. Chacko Jacob & Jijo Lukose P.J., 2018. "Institutional Ownership and Dividend Payout in Emerging Markets: Evidence from India," Journal of Emerging Market Finance, Institute for Financial Management and Research, vol. 17(1_suppl), pages 54-82, April.
    8. Hamdi Ben-Nasr, 2015. "Government Ownership and Dividend Policy: Evidence from Newly Privatised Firms," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(5-6), pages 665-704, June.
    9. 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.
    10. du Jardin, Philippe & Séverin, Eric, 2011. "Dividend policy," MPRA Paper 44382, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. 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.
    12. Byun, Jinho & Kim, Kihun & Liao, Rose C. & Pan, Carrie, 2021. "The Impact of Investor Sentiment on Catering Incentives around the World," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    13. Brawn, Derek A. & Šević, Aleksandar, 2018. "“Firm size matters: Industry sector, firm age and volatility do too in determining which publicly-listed US firms pay a dividend”," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 132-152.
    14. Anton Miglo, 2020. "Zero-Debt Policy under Asymmetric Information, Flexibility and Free Cash Flow Considerations," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-25, November.
    15. Blau, Benjamin M. & Fuller, Kathleen P. & Van Ness, Robert A., 2011. "Short selling around dividend announcements and ex-dividend days," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 628-639, June.
    16. Mahboubeh Bahreini & Cahit Adaoglu, 2018. "Dividend payouts of travel and leisure companies in Western Europe," Tourism Economics, , vol. 24(7), pages 801-820, November.
    17. Liu, Chinpiao & Chen, An-Sing, 2015. "Do firms use dividend changes to signal future profitability? A simultaneous equation analysis," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 194-207.
    18. Kent Baker, H. & Kilincarslan, Erhan, 2019. "Why companies do not pay cash dividends: The Turkish experience," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 42(C).
    19. Ijaz Ali & Ali Gohar & Omar Meharzi, 2017. "Why do Firms Change Their Dividend Policy?," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 7(3), pages 411-422.
    20. Nicolas Aubert, 2016. "Does the Catering Theory of Dividend Apply to the French Listed Firms?," Bankers, Markets & Investors, ESKA Publishing, issue 145, pages 27-38, November-.
    21. Rój Justyna, 2019. "The Determinants of Corporate Dividend Policy in Poland," Ekonomika (Economics), Sciendo, vol. 98(1), pages 96-110, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Active funding gap; Cash dividend payment; Difference-in-difference model; Dividend financing; Investor confidence; Semimandatory dividend policy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • G35 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Payout Policy

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:ecosys:v:44:y:2020:i:4:s0939362518304461. 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://edirc.repec.org/data/osteide.html .

    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.