IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/corfin/v17y2011i1p122-133.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Nonnegotiable shares, controlling shareholders, and dividend payments in China

Author

Listed:
  • Huang, Juan Juan
  • Shen, Yifeng
  • Sun, Qian

Abstract

China has some unique institutional features. For example, the shares of listed firms are segmented into negotiable and nonnegotiable ones. The controlling shareholders, usually connected to the government, hold nonnegotiable shares. We examine how these institutional features affected cash dividend payments in China during the period 1994-2006. We find that dividend payments are positively associated with the proportion of nonnegotiable shares in a firm and the proportion of nonnegotiable shares held by the controlling shareholder; moreover, the 2001 China Securities Regulatory Commission stipulation requiring cash dividend payments does not benefit negotiable shareholders. However, we also find that dividend payments are downside flexible, and controlling shareholders cannot force firms to pay or to pay more dividends when firms' earnings decline significantly. The conventional factors, especially profitability or the capability to pay, still play an important role in determining the dividend policy. The propensity to pay and the payout ratio in China are not high compared to those of other countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Huang, Juan Juan & Shen, Yifeng & Sun, Qian, 2011. "Nonnegotiable shares, controlling shareholders, and dividend payments in China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 122-133, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:corfin:v:17:y:2011:i:1:p:122-133
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0929-1199(10)00077-5
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    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. 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. Allen, Franklin & Qian, Jun & Qian, Meijun, 2005. "Law, finance, and economic growth in China," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(1), pages 57-116, July.
    3. Megginson, William L & Nash, Robert C & van Randenborgh, Matthias, 1994. "The Financial and Operating Performance of Newly Privatized Firms: An International Empirical Analysis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 49(2), pages 403-452, June.
    4. 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.
    5. 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.
    6. Wang, Jiwei, 2010. "A comparison of shareholder identity and governance mechanisms in the monitoring of CEOs of listed companies in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 24-37, March.
    7. Jeffry M. Netter & William L. Megginson, 2001. "From State to Market: A Survey of Empirical Studies on Privatization," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 39(2), pages 321-389, June.
    8. Goergen, Marc & Renneboog, Luc & Correia da Silva, Luis, 2005. "When do German firms change their dividends?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 11(1-2), pages 375-399, March.
    9. René M. Stulz, 2007. "The Limits of Financial Globalization," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 19(1), pages 8-15, January.
    10. 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.
    11. Baker, H. Kent & Mukherjee, Tarun K. & Paskelian, Ohannes George, 2006. "How Norwegian managers view dividend policy," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 155-176, September.
    12. La Porta, Rafael & Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert, 2000. "Investor protection and corporate governance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(1-2), pages 3-27.
    13. Sun, Qian & Tong, Wilson H. S., 2003. "China share issue privatization: the extent of its success," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(2), pages 183-222, November.
    14. DeAngelo, Harry & DeAngelo, Linda & Skinner, Douglas J, 1992. "Dividends and Losses," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(5), pages 1837-1863, December.
    15. Yu, Qiao & Du, Bin & Sun, Qian, 2006. "Earnings management at rights issues thresholds--Evidence from China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(12), pages 3453-3468, December.
    16. Malcolm Baker & Jeffrey Wurgler, 2004. "A Catering Theory of Dividends," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 59(3), pages 1125-1165, June.
    17. 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.
    18. Seppo Kinkki, 2008. "Minority Protection and Dividend Policy in Finland," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 14(3), pages 470-502, June.
    19. Chen, Gongmeng & Firth, Michael & Xu, Liping, 2009. "Does the type of ownership control matter? Evidence from China's listed companies," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 171-181, January.
    20. 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.
    21. Gugler, Klaus & Yurtoglu, B. Burcin, 2003. "Corporate governance and dividend pay-out policy in Germany," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 731-758, August.
    22. 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.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. 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).
    2. 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).
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. 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.
    6. Choy, HiuLam & Gul, Ferdinand A. & Yao, Jun, 2011. "Does political economy reduce agency costs? Some evidence from dividend policies around the world," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 16-35, January.
    7. 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.
    8. Hamdi Ben-Nasr, 2015. "Government Ownership and Dividend Policy: Evidence from Newly Privatised Firms," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(5-6), pages 665-704, June.
    9. 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.
    10. Goyal, Abhinav & Jategaonkar, Shrikant P. & Muckley, Cal B., 2020. "Why do privatized firms pay higher dividends?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    11. du Jardin, Philippe & Séverin, Eric, 2011. "Dividend policy," MPRA Paper 44382, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. 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.
    13. He, Wen & Ng, Lilian & Zaiats, Nataliya & Zhang, Bohui, 2017. "Dividend policy and earnings management across countries," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 267-286.
    14. 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.
    15. Jasminder Kaur, 2019. "Firm’s Life Cycle Spurs the Dividend Payments: A Fallacy or an Actuality?," Paradigm, , vol. 23(1), pages 36-52, June.
    16. Nicolas Aubert, 2016. "Does the Catering Theory of Dividend Apply to the French Listed Firms?," Bankers, Markets & Investors, ESKA Publishing, issue 145, pages 27-38, November-.
    17. repec:ers:journl:v:v:y:2017:i:4:p:104-132 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Byun, Jinho & Kim, Kihun & Liao, Rose C. & Pan, Carrie, 2021. "The Impact of Investor Sentiment on Catering Incentives around the World," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    19. Manos, Ronny & Murinde, Victor & Green, Christopher J., 2012. "Dividend policy and business groups: Evidence from Indian firms," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 42-56.
    20. Kamal Anouar & Nicolas Aubert, 2016. "Does the catering theory of dividend apply to the French listed firms?," Working Papers halshs-01401867, HAL.
    21. Chintrakarn, Pandej & Jiraporn, Pornsit & Treepongkaruna, Sirimon & Mook Lee, Sang, 2022. "The effect of board independence on dividend payouts: A quasi-natural experiment," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).

    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:corfin:v:17:y:2011:i:1:p:122-133. 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/jcorpfin .

    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.