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Soft activism and corporate dividend policy: Evidence from institutional investors site visits

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  • Cao, Jerry
  • Wang, Hanyang
  • Zhou, Sili

Abstract

We study the governance effect of institutional site visits and focus on corporate payout. Due to the weak investor protection and poor information quality in China, institutional investors resort to site visits as a form of soft activism. We show that site visits lead to an increase of corporate cash dividend, through the mechanism of disciplining management with exit threats. Such effect is more pronounced for visits by state-owned institutions. We further confirm the causal link with both difference-in-difference analysis and instrumental variable regression. The paper contributes to the research on soft activism and governance device of institutional investors in weak institutional environments.

Suggested Citation

  • Cao, Jerry & Wang, Hanyang & Zhou, Sili, 2022. "Soft activism and corporate dividend policy: Evidence from institutional investors site visits," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:corfin:v:75:y:2022:i:c:s0929119922000645
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2022.102221
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    Cited by:

    1. Bingrun Xu & Wenli Huang & Lu Li & Lei Lu, 2023. "Mutual fund activism and corporate innovation: Evidence from China," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(S2), pages 2755-2779, June.
    2. Jiang, Yahan & Wang, Cai & Li, Sha & Wan, Jing, 2022. "Do institutional investors' corporate site visits improve ESG performance? Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    3. Cao, Jiawei & Dong, Dayong & Yue, Sishi, 2024. "Institutional investors’ site visits and firms’ financial distress," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(PB).
    4. Wang, Xiaolin & Ye, Yingying, 2024. "Government-initiated corporate social responsibility and performance growth—Evidence from enterprise engagement in targeted poverty alleviation in China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    5. Han, Han & Wang, Zhibin & Zhao, Xueqing, 2023. "Minority shareholder activism, threat of exit and pay-performance sensitivity," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    6. Song, Yanheng & Xian, Rui, 2024. "Institutional investors' corporate site visits and firm-level climate change risk disclosure," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    7. Wang, Zhibin & Li, Zelei, 2023. "Does minority shareholder activism enhance corporate innovation? Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    8. Wu, Wenxin & Zhang, Xuezhi & Zhou, Zixun, 2022. "Institutional investors' corporate site visits and pay-performance sensitivity," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    9. Weiping Li & Xuezhi Zhang & Shuyi Cheng & Xiaohang Ren, 2024. "Clear the air via dividends: Corporates' response to air pollution," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(4), pages 3383-3396, May.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Site visits; Dividend payout; Soft activism; Exit threat; Corporate governance; Institutional environment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • G35 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Payout Policy

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