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Payout Policy in the 21st Century

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Author Info
Alon Brav
John R. Graham
Campbell R. Harvey
Roni Michaely

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Abstract

We survey 384 CFOs and Treasurers, and conduct in-depth interviews with an additional two dozen, to determine the key factors that drive dividend and share repurchase policies. We find that managers are very reluctant to cut dividends, that dividends are smoothed through time, and that dividend increases are tied to long-run sustainable earnings but much less so than in the past. Rather than increasing dividends, many firms now use repurchases as an alternative. Paying out with repurchases is viewed by managers as being more flexible than using dividends, permitting a better opportunity to optimize investment. Managers like to repurchase shares when they feel their stock is undervalued and in an effort to affect EPS. Dividend increases and the level of share repurchases are generally paid out of residual cash flow, after investment and liquidity needs are met. Financial executives believe that retail investors have a strong preference for dividends, in spite of the tax disadvantage relative to repurchases. In contrast, executives believe that institutional investors as a class have no strong preference between dividends and repurchases. In general, management views provide at most moderate support for agency, signaling, and clientele hypotheses of payout policy. Tax considerations play only a secondary role. By highlighting where the theory and practice of corporate payout policy are consistent and where they are not, we attempt to shed new light on important unresolved issues related to payout policy in the 21st century.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 9657.

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Date of creation: Apr 2003
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:9657

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
G35 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Payout Policy
G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Capital and Ownership Structure

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Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Pornsit Jiraporn & Pandej Chintrakarn, 2009. "Staggered Boards, Managerial Entrenchment, and Dividend Policy," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer, vol. 36(1), pages 1-19, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Mihir A. Desai & Dhammika Dharmapala & Winnie Fung, 2005. "Taxation and the Evolution of Aggregate Corporate Ownership Concentration," NBER Working Papers 11469, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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    Other versions:
  4. Aaro Hazak, 2006. "Dividend Decision under Distributed Profit Taxation: Investor’s Perspective," Working Papers 145, School of Economics and Business Administration, Tallinn University of Technology. [Downloadable!]
  5. Heitor Almeida & Murillo Campello & Bruno Laranjeira & Scott Weisbenner, 2009. "Corporate Debt Maturity and the Real Effects of the 2007 Credit Crisis," NBER Working Papers 14990, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Gunnar Bårdsen & Jurgen Doornik & Jan Tore Klovland, 2004. "A European-type wage equation from an American-style labor market: Evidence from a panel of Norwegian manufacturing industries in the 1930s," Working Paper 2004/8, Norges Bank. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. José M. Marín & Antoni Sureda-Gomila, 2007. "Firms vs. insiders as traders of last resort," Working Papers 2007-21, Instituto Madrileño de Estudios Avanzados (IMDEA) Ciencias Sociales. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  8. Jennifer L. Blouin & Jana Smith Raedy & Douglas A. Shackelford, 2007. "Did Firms Substitute Dividends for Share Repurchases after the 2003 Reductions in Shareholder Tax Rates?," NBER Working Papers 13601, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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    Other versions:
  10. Renneboog, L.D.R. & Trojanowski, Grzegorz, 2005. "Control structures and payout policy," Discussion Paper 61, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
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  11. Joos, Peter & Plesko, George, 2004. "Costly Dividend Signaling: The Case of Loss Firms with Negative Cash Flows," Working papers Costly Dividend Signaling, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management. [Downloadable!]
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  14. Schauten, M.B.J. & Spronk, J., 2006. "Optimal Capital Structure: Reflections on Economic and Other Values," Research Paper ERS-2006-074-F&A Revision, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus Uni. [Downloadable!]
  15. Richard W. Kopcke, 2005. "The taxation of equity, dividends, and stock prices," Public Policy Discussion Paper 05-1, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. [Downloadable!]
  16. Johannes A. Skjeltorp & Bernt Arne Ødegaard, 2004. "The ownership structure of repurchasing firms," Working Paper 2004/7, Norges Bank. [Downloadable!]
  17. Brounen, D. & Jong, A. de & Koedijk, C.G., 2004. "Corporate Finance In Europe Confronting Theory With Practice," Research Paper ERS-2004-002-F&A Revision, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus Uni. [Downloadable!]
  18. Neves, Elisabete & Pindado, Julio & Torre, Chabela de la, 2006. "Dividends: New evidence on the catering theory," Documentos de Trabajo "Nuevas Tendencias en Dirección de Empresas". Working Papers "New Trends on Business Administration". 2006-14, Interuniversitary Doctorate Program "New Trends on Business Administration", Universities of Valladolid, Burgos and Salamanca (Spain). Programa de Doctorado Interuniversitario "Nuevas Tendencias en Di. [Downloadable!]
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