IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jecomi/v10y2022i11p263-d951501.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Corporate Dividend Policies during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Nasir Ali

    (Faisalabad Business School, National Textile University, Faisalabad 37610, Pakistan)

  • Muhammad Zia Ur Rehman

    (Faisalabad Business School, National Textile University, Faisalabad 37610, Pakistan)

  • Badar Nadeem Ashraf

    (LSBU Business School, London South Bank University, London SE1 0AA, UK)

  • Falik Shear

    (Faisalabad Business School, National Textile University, Faisalabad 37610, Pakistan)

Abstract

In this paper, we examine the changes in corporate dividend policies during the COVID-19 shock. For empirical analysis, we employ annual data of 360 companies from the Pakistan Stock Exchange over the period 2015–2020. Using descriptive analysis and Logit regression models, we find that firms were more likely to either omit or reduce dividend payments during the pandemic year of 2020 as compared to the trends in pre-COVID-19 years of 2015–2019. Further, firms with higher profitability, asset turnover and size were less likely to opt for dividend omissions. On the contrary, dividend omissions were more likely among firms with higher debt ratios. The findings of this study helps to understand firm dividend policies during crisis periods.

Suggested Citation

  • Nasir Ali & Muhammad Zia Ur Rehman & Badar Nadeem Ashraf & Falik Shear, 2022. "Corporate Dividend Policies during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Economies, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-12, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jecomi:v:10:y:2022:i:11:p:263-:d:951501
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7099/10/11/263/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7099/10/11/263/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    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. Mirza, Nawazish & Abbas Rizvi, Syed Kumail & Saba, Irum & Naqvi, Bushra & Yarovaya, Larisa, 2022. "The resilience of Islamic equity funds during COVID-19: Evidence from risk adjusted performance, investment styles and volatility timing," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 276-295.
    3. Miller, Merton H & Scholes, Myron S, 1982. "Dividends and Taxes: Some Empirical Evidence," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 90(6), pages 1118-1141, December.
    4. Meyer, Brent H. & Prescott, Brian & Sheng, Xuguang Simon, 2022. "The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on business expectations," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 529-544.
    5. Viral V Acharya & Sascha Steffen, 2020. "The Risk of Being a Fallen Angel and the Corporate Dash for Cash in the Midst of COVID," The Review of Corporate Finance Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 9(3), pages 430-471.
    6. Muhammad Nadeem Khan & Moona Shamim, 2017. "A Sectoral Analysis of Dividend Payment Behavior," SAGE Open, , vol. 7(1), pages 21582440166, January.
    7. Miller, Merton H. & Scholes, Myron S., 1978. "Dividends and taxes," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(4), pages 333-364, December.
    8. Krieger, Kevin & Mauck, Nathan & Pruitt, Stephen W., 2021. "The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on dividends," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 42(C).
    9. 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.
    10. Gary L. Caton & Jeremy Goh & Ninon Kohers, 2003. "Dividend Omissions and Intraindustry Information Transfers," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 26(1), pages 51-64, March.
    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. Zouhair Boumlik & Badia Oulhadj & Olivier Colot, 2023. "The Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Corporate Dividend Policy of Moroccan Listed Firms," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-17, July.

    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. Ashraf, Badar Nadeem & Bibi, Bushra & Zheng, Changjun, 2016. "How to regulate bank dividends? Is capital regulation an answer?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 281-293.
    2. Thomas McCluskey & Aoife Broderick & Amanda Boyle & Bruce Burton & David Power, 2010. "Evidence on Irish financial analysts' and fund managers' views about dividends," Qualitative Research in Financial Markets, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 2(2), pages 80-99, June.
    3. H.Kent Baker & Gary E. Powell & E.Theodore Veit, 2002. "Revisiting the dividend puzzle," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(4), pages 241-261.
    4. Jennifer L. Blouin & Jana Smith Raedy & Douglas A. Shackelford, 2004. "Did Dividends Increase Immediately After the 2003 Reduction in Tax Rates?," NBER Working Papers 10301, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Mihir A. Desai & C. Fritz Foley & James R. Hines Jr., 2002. "Dividend Policy inside the Firm," NBER Working Papers 8698, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Dahlquist, Magnus & Robertsson, Göran & Rydqvist, Kristian, 2007. "Direct Evidence of Dividend Tax Clienteles," SIFR Research Report Series 51, Institute for Financial Research.
    7. Thomas McCluskey & Bruce Burton & David Power, 2007. "Evidence on Irish financial directors' views about dividends," Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 4(2), pages 115-132, June.
    8. Baker, H. Kent & Powell, Gary E. & Veit, E. Theodore, 2002. "Revisiting the dividend puzzle: Do all of the pieces now fit?," Review of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 241-261.
    9. Clemens Sialm, 2009. "Tax Changes and Asset Pricing," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(4), pages 1356-1383, September.
    10. du Jardin, Philippe & Séverin, Eric, 2011. "Dividend policy," MPRA Paper 44382, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Jakub Kwiatkowski, 2017. "R&D activity and dividend policy of companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange," Working Papers of Economics of European Integration Division 1702, The Univeristy of Gdansk, Faculty of Economics, Economics of European Integration Division.
    12. François Gourio & Jianjun Miao, 2010. "Firm Heterogeneity and the Long-Run Effects of Dividend Tax Reform," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(1), pages 131-168, January.
    13. Sabur Mollah, 2011. "Do emerging market firms follow different dividend policies?," Studies in Economics and Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 28(2), pages 118-135, June.
    14. Pawel Sekula & Blazej Socha, 2022. "The Effects of Cash Dividend on Stock Prices during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from Poland," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(3), pages 145-155.
    15. Renneboog, L.D.R. & Trojanowski, G., 2005. "Patterns in Payout Policy and Payout Channel Choice of UK Firms in the 1990s," Discussion Paper 2005-002, Tilburg University, Tilburg Law and Economic Center.
    16. Philip Brown & Alex Clarke, 1993. "The Ex-Dividend Day Behaviour of Australian Share Prices Before and After Dividend Imputation," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 18(1), pages 1-40, June.
    17. Dahlquist, Magnus & Robertsson, Göran & Rydqvist, Kristian, 2014. "Direct evidence of dividend tax clienteles," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 1-12.
    18. Trevor S. Harris & R. Glenn Hubbard & Deen Kemsley, 1999. "The Share Price Effects of Dividend Taxes and Tax Imputation Credits," NBER Working Papers 7445, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Wu, Chunchi, 1996. "Taxes and dividend policy," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 5(3), pages 291-305.
    20. James M. Poterba & Lawrence H. Summers, 1984. "The Economic Effects of Dividend Taxation," NBER Working Papers 1353, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    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:gam:jecomi:v:10:y:2022:i:11:p:263-:d:951501. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.