IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ememar/v30y2017icp1-18.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The effect of ownership concentration and composition on dividends: Evidence from Latin America

Author

Listed:
  • Gonzalez, Maximiliano
  • Molina, Carlos A.
  • Pablo, Eduardo
  • Rosso, John W.

Abstract

We analyze a unique data set of publicly traded firms based in six Latin American countries to study the joint effect of ownership concentration and composition on dividend policy. We find that when ownership concentration is high and the largest investor is identified as an individual, firms tend to pay fewer dividends consistent with individual investors extracting benefits from minority shareholders. However, if the largest shareholder is based in a common law country, the dividend paid is significantly higher. Finally, greater ownership by the second largest shareholder decreases firm dividends suggesting the monitoring role of a large shareholder.

Suggested Citation

  • Gonzalez, Maximiliano & Molina, Carlos A. & Pablo, Eduardo & Rosso, John W., 2017. "The effect of ownership concentration and composition on dividends: Evidence from Latin America," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 1-18.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:ememar:v:30:y:2017:i:c:p:1-18
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ememar.2016.08.018
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1566014116300668
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ememar.2016.08.018?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. Espen Eckbo, B. & Verma, Savita, 1994. "Managerial shareownership, voting power, and cash dividend policy," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 33-62, March.
    2. Esqueda, Omar A., 2016. "Signaling, corporate governance, and the equilibrium dividend policy," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 186-199.
    3. Michael J. Barclay & Clifford G. Holderness & Dennis P. Sheehan, 2009. "Dividends and Corporate Shareholders," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(6), pages 2423-2455, June.
    4. Jorge Farinha & Oscar Lopez-de-Foronda, 2009. "The relation between dividends and insider ownership in different legal systems: international evidence," The European Journal of Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(2), pages 169-189.
    5. Jeong, Jinho, 2013. "Determinants of dividend smoothing in emerging market: The case of Korea," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 17(C), pages 76-88.
    6. Brockman, Paul & Unlu, Emre, 2009. "Dividend policy, creditor rights, and the agency costs of debt," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(2), pages 276-299, May.
    7. repec:idb:brikps:59598 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Alberto Chong & Florencio López-de-Silanes, 2007. "Investor Protection and Corporate Governance : Firm-Level Evidence Across Latin America," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 6769, December.
    9. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1986. "Large Shareholders and Corporate Control," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(3), pages 461-488, June.
    10. Byrne, Julie & O’Connor, Thomas, 2012. "Creditor rights and the outcome model of dividends," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 227-242.
    11. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    12. Truong, Thanh & Heaney, Richard, 2007. "Largest shareholder and dividend policy around the world," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 47(5), pages 667-687, December.
    13. Ricardo N. Bebczuk & André L. Carvalhal da Silva & Alberto E. Chong & Juan José Cruces & Urbi Garay & Maximiliano González & Luis H. Gutiérrez & Enrique Kawamura & Ricardo P. C. Leal & Fernando Lefort, 2007. "Investor Protection and Corporate Governance: Firm-level Evidence across Latin America," IDB Publications (Books), Inter-American Development Bank, number 59598 edited by Alberto E. Chong & Florencio López-de-Silanes, February.
    14. 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.
    15. Arturo Bris & Christos Cabolis, 2008. "The Value of Investor Protection: Firm Evidence from Cross-Border Mergers," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 21(2), pages 605-648, April.
    16. 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.
    17. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1998. "Law and Finance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 106(6), pages 1113-1155, December.
    18. 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.
    19. Fernando Lefort & Eduardo Walker, 2000. "Ownership And Capital Structure Of Chilean Conglomerates:Facts And Hypotheses For Governance," Abante, Escuela de Administracion. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile., vol. 3(1), pages 3-27.
    20. Armando Gomes, 2000. "Going Public without Governance: Managerial Reputation Effects," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(2), pages 615-646, April.
    21. Thomas O'Connor & Julie Byrne, 2012. "Shareholder and creditor legal rights and the outcome model of dividends," Economics Department Working Paper Series n225-12.pdf, Department of Economics, National University of Ireland - Maynooth.
    22. 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.
    23. Athari, Seyed Alireza & Adaoglu, Cahit & Bektas, Eralp, 2016. "Investor protection and dividend policy: The case of Islamic and conventional banks," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 100-117.
    24. Zwiebel, Jeffrey, 1996. "Dynamic Capital Structure under Managerial Entrenchment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(5), pages 1197-1215, December.
    25. Maury, Benjamin & Pajuste, Anete, 2005. "Multiple large shareholders and firm value," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(7), pages 1813-1834, July.
    26. Michael S. Rozeff, 1982. "Growth, Beta And Agency Costs As Determinants Of Dividend Payout Ratios," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 5(3), pages 249-259, September.
    27. Tehmina Khan, 2006. "Company Dividends and Ownership Structure: Evidence from UK Panel Data," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 116(510), pages 172-189, March.
    28. Jensen, Gerald R. & Solberg, Donald P. & Zorn, Thomas S., 1992. "Simultaneous Determination of Insider Ownership, Debt, and Dividend Policies," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 27(2), pages 247-263, June.
    29. Yaniv Grinstein & Roni Michaely, 2005. "Institutional Holdings and Payout Policy," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(3), pages 1389-1426, June.
    30. Varouj Aivazian & Laurence Booth & Sean Cleary, 2003. "Do Emerging Market Firms Follow Different Dividend Policies From U.S. Firms?," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 26(3), pages 371-387, September.
    31. Easterbrook, Frank H, 1984. "Two Agency-Cost Explanations of Dividends," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 74(4), pages 650-659, September.
    32. 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.
    33. Martins, Theo Cotrim & Novaes, Walter, 2012. "Mandatory dividend rules: Do they make it harder for firms to invest?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 953-967.
    34. 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.
    35. Luciana Mancinelli & Aydin Ozkan, 2006. "Ownership structure and dividend policy: Evidence from Italian firms," The European Journal of Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(3), pages 265-282.
    36. Moh'd, Mahmoud A & Perry, Larry G & Rimbey, James N, 1995. "An Investigation of the Dynamic Relationship between Agency Theory and Dividend Policy," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 30(2), pages 367-385, May.
    37. Urzúa I., Francisco, 2009. "Too few dividends? Groups' tunneling through chair and board compensation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 245-256, April.
    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. Duqi, Andi & Jaafar, Aziz & Warsame, Mohammed H., 2020. "Payout policy and ownership structure: The case of Islamic and conventional banks," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(1).
    2. Samuel Mongrut Montalvan & Carlos Mario Ramirez Arango & Julian Usma Patiño, 2023. "Corporate Governance and Dividend Policy: Evidence from Colombia," Remef - Revista Mexicana de Economía y Finanzas Nueva Época REMEF (The Mexican Journal of Economics and Finance), Instituto Mexicano de Ejecutivos de Finanzas, IMEF, vol. 18(4), pages 1-19, Octubre -.
    3. Gaitán, Sandra & Herrera-Echeverri, Hernán & Pablo, Eduardo, 2018. "How corporate governance affects productivity in civil-law business environments: Evidence from Latin America," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 173-185.
    4. Farooq, Omar & Ahmed, Neveen, 2019. "Dividend policy and political uncertainty: Evidence from the US presidential elections," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 201-209.
    5. Samuel Mongrut Montalvan & Cinzia Delfino Barilla & Gianni Devercelli Ruiz & Diego Lambarri Figueroa, 2017. "Corporate Governance and Dividend Policy in Peru: Is there any link? Política de dividendos y buen gobierno corporativo en el Perú: ¿Existe alguna relación?," Remef - The Mexican Journal of Economics and Finance, Instituto Mexicano de Ejecutivos de Finanzas. Remef, March.
    6. Renneboog, Luc & Szilagyi, Peter, 2020. "How relevant is dividend policy under low shareholder protection?," Other publications TiSEM 9fab895c-69f2-4056-8df8-8, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    7. 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).
    8. Kant, Chander, 2018. "Financial openness & institutions in developing countries," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 240-250.
    9. Song, Xiaobao & Yao, Mingan & Su, Wunhong & Lin, Danming, 2021. "The impact of ultimate controller’s ownership on cash dividend policy based on a comparative analysis between owner-management and professional-management modes," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    10. Regina M. Lizares, 2022. "Ownership concentration and board structure: Alignment and entrenchment effects in an emerging market," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(6), pages 2557-2569, September.
    11. Tahir, Muhammad & Ibrahim, Haslindar & Zulkafli, Abdul Hadi & Mushtaq, Muhammad, 2020. "Corruption, national culture, law and dividend repatriation policy," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 57.
    12. Henrique Castro Martins, 2020. "The Brazilian bankruptcy law reform, corporate ownership concentration, and risk‐taking," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(4), pages 562-573, June.
    13. Gniadkowska-Szymańska Agata, 2017. "Impact of a Company’s Dividend Policy on the Liquidity of Shares Listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange," Financial Internet Quarterly (formerly e-Finanse), Sciendo, vol. 13(3), pages 24-32, September.
    14. Briano-Turrent, Guadalupe D.C. & Li, Mingsheng & Peng, Hongfeng, 2020. "The impact of family-CEOs and their demographic characteristics on dividend payouts: Evidence from Latin America," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    15. Martínez-García, Irma & Basco, Rodrigo & Gómez-Ansón, Silvia, 2021. "Dancing with giants: Contextualizing state and family ownership effects on firm performance in the Gulf Cooperation Council," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 12(4).
    16. Suman, Samridhi & Singh, Shveta, 2022. "The Role of Multiple Large Shareholders in Dividend Payouts: Evidence from India," American Business Review, Pompea College of Business, University of New Haven, vol. 25(1), pages 120-151, May.

    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. Duha Al-Kuwari, 2012. "Are Large Shareholders Conducting Influential Monitoring in Emerging Markets? An Investigation into the Impact of Large Shareholders on Dividend Decisions: The Case of Kuwait," Research in World Economy, Research in World Economy, Sciedu Press, vol. 3(2), pages 52-67, September.
    2. Chai, D.H., 2010. "Foreign Corporate Ownership and Dividends," Working Papers wp401, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.
    3. Jabbouri, Imad, 2016. "Determinants of corporate dividend policy in emerging markets: Evidence from MENA stock markets," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 283-298.
    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. Truong, Thanh & Heaney, Richard, 2007. "Largest shareholder and dividend policy around the world," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 47(5), pages 667-687, December.
    7. 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).
    8. Gyimah, Daniel & Gyapong, Ernest, 2021. "Managerial entrenchment and payout policy: A catering effect," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    9. Booth, Laurence & Zhou, Jun, 2017. "Dividend policy: A selective review of results from around the world," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 1-15.
    10. Szilagyi, P.G., 2007. "Corporate governance and the agency costs of debt and outside equity," Other publications TiSEM 9520d40a-224f-43a8-9bf9-b, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    11. du Jardin, Philippe & Séverin, Eric, 2011. "Dividend policy," MPRA Paper 44382, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Renneboog, Luc & Szilagyi, Peter, 2020. "How relevant is dividend policy under low shareholder protection?," Other publications TiSEM 9fab895c-69f2-4056-8df8-8, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    13. Renneboog, L.D.R. & Trojanowski, G., 2005. "Control Structures and Payout Policy," Other publications TiSEM a82281ef-f247-479f-a0e3-1, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    14. 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.
    15. Ye, Dezhu & Deng, Jie & Liu, Yi & Szewczyk, Samuel H. & Chen, Xiao, 2019. "Does board gender diversity increase dividend payouts? Analysis of global evidence," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 1-26.
    16. Seyed Alireza Athari, 2021. "The effects of institutional settings and risks on bank dividend policy in an emerging market: Evidence from Tobit model," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(3), pages 4493-4515, July.
    17. Yasuharu Aoki, 2014. "How Does the Largest Shareholder Affect Dividends?," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 14(4), pages 613-645, December.
    18. 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.
    19. Okun O. Omokhudu & Ohidoa Toluwa, 2018. "Agency Cost and Dividend Policy in Nigerian NonFinancial Quoted Firms," International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, vol. 8(4), pages 325-350, April.
    20. Fidrmuc, Jana P. & Jacob, Marcus, 2010. "Culture, agency costs, and dividends," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 321-339, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Dividends; Ownership concentration; International corporate governance;
    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:ememar:v:30:y:2017:i:c:p:1-18. 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: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/620356 .

    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.