IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jrisks/v13y2025i2p34-d1592650.html

The Impact of Cyber Governance Quality on Dividend Policy in Mitigating Cybersecurity Breaches

Author

Listed:
  • Manar Al-Mohareb

    (Business School, The University of Jordan, Amman 11942, Jordan)

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between cyber risks and dividend policy, as well as how boards, as a governance mechanism, affect the dividend policy under cyber risk. This study collected firm-level financing, corporate governance, and control variables from the Bloomberg database during the period 2013–2022. This paper measures of cyber risk through publicly available corporate disclosures on Form 10-K. The findings confirmed that cyber risks significantly impact dividend policy by posing challenges to corporate technical communication and financial transparency. Effective boards play a critical role in guiding companies toward governance strategies that enhance dividend policy and improve cybersecurity. This study involves policy and practical implications, where research findings suggest the need to strengthen regulatory frameworks that encourage the adoption of strong governance practices and advanced cybersecurity practices within companies. On the practical level, companies should adopt a proactive approach to managing cyber risks by enhancing investments in this area and developing flexible dividend policies.

Suggested Citation

  • Manar Al-Mohareb, 2025. "The Impact of Cyber Governance Quality on Dividend Policy in Mitigating Cybersecurity Breaches," Risks, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-14, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jrisks:v:13:y:2025:i:2:p:34-:d:1592650
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9091/13/2/34/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9091/13/2/34/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Damodaran, Aswath & Liu, Crocker H, 1993. "Insider Trading as a Signal of Private Information," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 6(1), pages 79-119.
    2. Kothari, S.P. & Leone, Andrew J. & Wasley, Charles E., 2005. "Performance matched discretionary accrual measures," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 163-197, February.
    3. 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.
    4. Tran, Ly Thi Hai, 2022. "Reporting quality and financial leverage: Are qualitative characteristics or earnings quality more important? Evidence from an emerging bank-based economy," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    5. Kamiya, Shinichi & Kang, Jun-Koo & Kim, Jungmin & Milidonis, Andreas & Stulz, René M., 2021. "Risk management, firm reputation, and the impact of successful cyberattacks on target firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(3), pages 719-749.
    6. Bae, Kee-Hong & El Ghoul, Sadok & Guedhami, Omrane & Zheng, Xiaolan, 2021. "Board Reforms and Dividend Policy: International Evidence," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 56(4), pages 1296-1320, June.
    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. Lee, Chien-Chiang & Wang, Chih-Wei & Huang, Chun-Wei & Sharma, Susan Sunila, 2025. "Corporate dividend behavior under uncertainty: A study of Chinese firms," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    2. Mahmoud Nassar & Yousef Abu Siam & Mohammad Haroun Sharairi & Khalil Nimer, 2026. "Free Cash Flow as a Moderator Between Board Characteristics and Dividend Policy: Evidence from Jordan’s Industrial Sector," Advances in Decision Sciences, Asia University, Taiwan, vol. 30(3), pages 63-88, September.
    3. Yusuke Takasu & Makoto Nakano, 2012. "What Do Smoothed Earnings Tell Us about the Future?," The Japanese Accounting Review, Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration, Kobe University, vol. 2, pages 1-32, December.
    4. Yasuharu Aoki & Takuma Kochiyama, 2025. "The moderating effect of private information on the relation between financial reporting quality and corporate dividend efficiency," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 65(1), pages 457-486, March.
    5. Lai, Tat-kei & Ng, Travis & Tsang, Kwok Ping, 2025. "Do foreign firms cater to American investors’ dividend desires?," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    6. Bai-Sian Chen & Hong-Yi Chen & Hsiao-Yin Chen & Fang-Chi Lin, 2022. "Corporate growth and strategic payout policy," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 59(2), pages 641-669, August.
    7. 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.
    8. Xiaoqiao Wang & Jing Xie & Bohui Zhang & Xiaofeng Zhao, 2024. "Unraveling the Dividend Puzzle: A Field Experiment," Working Papers 202406, University of Macau, Faculty of Business Administration.
    9. Kim, Min & Stice, Derrald & Stice, Han & White, Roger M., 2021. "Stop the presses! Or wait, we might need them: Firm responses to local newspaper closures and layoffs," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    10. Chen, Ruiyuan (Ryan) & Liu, Feiyu (Andy) & Zhao, Chen, 2024. "Worldwide board reforms and financial reporting quality," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    11. 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).
    12. 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.
    13. Lai, Shu-Miao & Liu, Chih-Liang, 2025. "How do global board reforms affect managerial investment decisions?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 77(PB).
    14. Jiang, Fuxiu & Cai, Xinni & Jiang, Zhan & Nofsinger, John R., 2019. "Multiple large shareholders and dividends: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    15. Luca Menicacci, 2022. "Financial reporting and book-tax conformity: A review of the issues," FINANCIAL REPORTING, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2022(1), pages 41-77.
    16. Lily Fang & Josh Lerner & Chaopeng Wu & Qi Zhang, 2023. "Anticorruption, Government Subsidies, and Innovation: Evidence from China," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(8), pages 4363-4388, August.
    17. Fidrmuc, Jana P. & Jacob, Marcus, 2010. "Culture, agency costs, and dividends," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 321-339, September.
    18. DEGEORGE, François & DING, Yuan & JEANJEAN, Thomas & STOLOWY, Hervé, 2005. "Does Analyst Following Curb Earnings Management?," HEC Research Papers Series 810, HEC Paris.
    19. Butler, Marty & Leone, Andrew J. & Willenborg, Michael, 2004. "An empirical analysis of auditor reporting and its association with abnormal accruals," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 139-165, June.
    20. Haozhe Song & Gunnar Rimmel, 2025. "Debtholders' reaction to sustainability reporting regulations: International evidence," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(1), pages 88-115, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:gam:jrisks:v:13:y:2025:i:2:p:34-:d:1592650. 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 The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask MDPI Indexing Manager to update the entry or send us the correct address (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.