IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jbfnac/v36y2009i3-4p496-522.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An International Analysis of Dividend Payment Behavior

Author

Listed:
  • Stephen P. Ferris
  • Nilanjan Sen
  • Emre Unlu

Abstract

This study investigates patterns in dividend payment across nine common law and sixteen civil law countries over 1994‐2007. We begin by examining whether the recent decline in the number of dividend payers is solely a US phenomenon or part of a more global trend. We find that at the beginning of our sample period, 72% of our sample firms pay dividends, but by 2007, this percentage decreases to 55%, with the decline more acute in common law countries. Our analysis further shows that the growing incidence of non‐dividend paying firms can be explained by an increase in the percentage of firms that have never paid dividends. We find that common law firms are less likely to initiate new dividend programs than those in civil law nations, although they tend to have more abundant growth opportunities. We further establish that this global decline in the propensity to pay dividends is more pronounced in firms incorporated in common law jurisdictions. Finally, we find that both the percentage increase in aggregate dividends and the dividend payout ratio is higher in civil law countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Stephen P. Ferris & Nilanjan Sen & Emre Unlu, 2009. "An International Analysis of Dividend Payment Behavior," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(3‐4), pages 496-522, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jbfnac:v:36:y:2009:i:3-4:p:496-522
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-5957.2009.02126.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5957.2009.02126.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1468-5957.2009.02126.x?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. Smith, Clifford Jr. & Watts, Ross L., 1992. "The investment opportunity set and corporate financing, dividend, and compensation policies," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 263-292, December.
    4. John R. M. Hand & Wayne R. Landsman, 2005. "The Pricing of Dividends in Equity Valuation," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(3-4), pages 435-469.
    5. 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.
    6. von Eije, Henk & Megginson, William L., 2008. "Dividends and share repurchases in the European Union," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(2), pages 347-374, August.
    7. 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.
    8. John R. M. Hand & Wayne R. Landsman, 2005. "The Pricing of Dividends in Equity Valuation," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(3‐4), pages 435-469, April.
    9. 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.
    10. Michael J. Barclay & Clifford W. Smith & Ross L. Watts, 1995. "The Determinants Of Corporate Leverage And Dividend Policies," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 7(4), pages 4-19, January.
    11. Gaver, Jennifer J. & Gaver, Kenneth M., 1993. "Additional evidence on the association between the investment opportunity set and corporate financing, dividend, and compensation policies," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(1-3), pages 125-160, April.
    12. John Armour & Simon Deakin & Suzanne J. Konzelmann, 2003. "Shareholder Primacy and the Trajectory of UK Corporate Governance," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 41(3), pages 531-555, September.
    13. John Armour & Simon Deakin & Suzanne J. Konzelmann, 2003. "Shareholder Primacy and the Trajectory of UK Corporate Governance," Working Papers wp266, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.
    14. Jorge Farinha, 2003. "Dividend Policy, Corporate Governance and the Managerial Entrenchment Hypothesis: An Empirical Analysis," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(9-10), pages 1173-1209.
    15. DeAngelo, Harry & DeAngelo, Linda & Skinner, Douglas J., 2004. "Are dividends disappearing? Dividend concentration and the consolidation of earnings," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(3), pages 425-456, June.
    16. Jorge Farinha, 2003. "Dividend Policy, Corporate Governance and the Managerial Entrenchment Hypothesis: An Empirical Analysis," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(9‐10), pages 1173-1209, December.
    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. Hui Liang James & Hongxia Wang, 2021. "Independent director tenure and dividends," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(5-6), pages 1057-1091, May.
    2. San Martín, Pablo & Saona, Paolo, 2017. "Capital structure in the Chilean corporate sector: Revisiting the stylized facts," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 163-174.
    3. Ed-Dafali, Slimane & Patel, Ritesh & Iqbal, Najaf, 2023. "A bibliometric review of dividend policy literature," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    4. 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.
    5. Chen, Xiaoqi & Chih-Chieh Chris, Hsieh & Tsang, Albert & Xiang, Yi, 2022. "Cross-border enforcement of securities laws and dividend payouts," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(6).
    6. Paolo Saona & Pablo San Martín, 2018. "Determinants of firm value in Latin America: an analysis of firm attributes and institutional factors," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 65-112, January.
    7. Graham Partington, 2009. "Discussion of An International Analysis of Dividend Payment Behavior," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(3‐4), pages 523-529, April.
    8. Muhammad Nadeem Khan & Moona Shamim, 2017. "A Sectoral Analysis of Dividend Payment Behavior," SAGE Open, , vol. 7(1), pages 21582440166, January.
    9. Aleksandra Pieloch-Babiarz, 2022. "Catering to investor sentiment for dividends: contestability or collusion of the largest shareholders?," Equilibrium. Quarterly Journal of Economics and Economic Policy, Institute of Economic Research, vol. 17(2), pages 435-457, June.
    10. Dragotă, Victor & Pele, Daniel Traian & Yaseen, Hanaan, 2019. "Dividend payout ratio follows a Tweedie distribution: International evidence," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 13, pages 1-35.
    11. Justin Hung Nguyen & Buhui Qiu, 2022. "The effect of skilled labor intensity on corporate dividend payouts," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(5-6), pages 963-1010, May.
    12. Amin, Abu S. & Dutta, Shantanu & Saadi, Samir & Vora, Premal P., 2015. "Institutional shareholding and information content of dividend surprises: Re-examining the dynamics in dividend-reappearance era," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 152-170.
    13. Stephen P. Ferris & Gregory Noronha & Emre Unlu, 2010. "The More, the Merrier: An International Analysis of the Frequency of Dividend Payment," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(1‐2), pages 148-170, January.

    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. Stephen P. Ferris & Nilanjan Sen & Emre Unlu, 2009. "An International Analysis of Dividend Payment Behavior," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(3-4), pages 496-522.
    2. 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.
    3. Sun, Liang & Yu, Huaibing, 2022. "The effects of busy board on firm’s probability to pay dividends," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    4. 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.
    5. Igor Goncharov & David Veenman, 2014. "Stale and Scale Effects in Markets-Based Accounting Research: Evidence from the Valuation of Dividends," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(1), pages 25-55, May.
    6. Hussain Haroon & Md-Rus Rohani & Al-Jaifi Hamdan Amer & Hussain Rana Yassir, 2022. "Determinants of Corporate Pay-Out Policy and the Moderating Effects of Firm's Growth: Evidence from Pakistan," Studia Universitatis „Vasile Goldis” Arad – Economics Series, Sciendo, vol. 32(3), pages 65-101, September.
    7. 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.
    8. Nishant B. Labhane & Jitendra Mahakud, 2016. "Determinants of Dividend Policy of Indian Companies," Paradigm, , vol. 20(1), pages 36-55, June.
    9. Harakeh, Mostafa & Lee, Edward & Walker, Martin, 2019. "The effect of information shocks on dividend payout and dividend value relevance," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 82-96.
    10. Erhan Kilincarslan, 2018. "The Factors Determining the Dividend Policy of Financial Firms Listed on the Borsa Istanbul," Bogazici Journal, Review of Social, Economic and Administrative Studies, Bogazici University, Department of Economics, vol. 32(1), pages 75-109.
    11. Paul Tanyi & David B. Smith & Xiaoyan Cheng, 2021. "Does firm payout policy affect shareholders’ dissatisfaction with directors?," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 57(1), pages 279-320, July.
    12. James, Hui & Benson, Bradley W. & Wu, Chen (Ken), 2017. "Does CEO ownership affect payout policy? Evidence from using CEO scaled wealth-performance sensitivity," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 328-345.
    13. Schmid, Thomas & Ampenberger, Markus & Kaserer, Christoph & Achleitner, Ann-Kristin, 2010. "Controlling shareholders and payout policy: do founding families have a special 'taste for dividends'?," CEFS Working Paper Series 2010-01, Technische Universität München (TUM), Center for Entrepreneurial and Financial Studies (CEFS).
    14. López-Iturriaga, Félix J. & Santana Martín, Domingo Javier, 2019. "The payout policy of politically connected firms: Tunnelling or reputation?," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    15. ElBannan, Mona A., 2020. "Does catering behavior persist? Evidence on dividend sentiment in emerging financial markets," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 350-373.
    16. Enrico Onali, 2014. "Moral Hazard, Dividends, and Risk in Banks," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(1-2), pages 128-155, January.
    17. Amin, Abu S. & Dutta, Shantanu & Saadi, Samir & Vora, Premal P., 2015. "Institutional shareholding and information content of dividend surprises: Re-examining the dynamics in dividend-reappearance era," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 152-170.
    18. 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.
    19. Driver, Ciaran & Grosman, Anna & Scaramozzino, Pasquale, 2020. "Dividend policy and investor pressure," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 559-576.
    20. Thomas J.Flavin & Abhinav Goyal & Thomas O'Connor, 2020. "Role of corporate governance and lifecycle in determining payout precommitment in an emerging economy," Economics Department Working Paper Series n297-20.pdf, Department of Economics, National University of Ireland - Maynooth.

    More about this item

    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:bla:jbfnac:v:36:y:2009:i:3-4:p:496-522. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0306-686X .

    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.