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Corporate payout smoothing: A variance decomposition approach

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  • Hoang, Edward C.
  • Hoxha, Indrit

Abstract

In this paper, we apply a variance decomposition methodology to quantify the smoothness of corporate payouts. We find that firms use debt and investment to smooth a large fraction of shocks to net income to keep payouts less variable. Specifically, our empirical results show that firms keep the growth of payouts relatively small and stable over time. Furthermore, our findings support theoretical work that demonstrates that the dynamics of investment and debt policy should be jointly modeled with payout policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Hoang, Edward C. & Hoxha, Indrit, 2016. "Corporate payout smoothing: A variance decomposition approach," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 1-13.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:empfin:v:35:y:2016:i:c:p:1-13
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jempfin.2015.10.011
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    8. Balli, Faruk & De Bruin, Anne & Balli, Hatice Ozer & Karimov, Jamshid, 2020. "Corporate net income and payout smoothing under Shari'ah compliance," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Debt; Investment; Lintner model; Net income; Payout;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G35 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Payout Policy

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