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Agency Issues in a Family Controlled Corporate Governance Structure The Case of Italy

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This study provides empirical evidence on the relationship between dividend payout ratios, executive compensation and agency costs in Italy. Corporate governance in Italy is distinguished by the fact that a large number of Italian firms are family controlled, which may theoretically reduce asymmetry of information and associated agency costs. Using a panel of listed manufacturing firms we find evidence that family control plays a significant role in resolving agency issues, i.e. that increases in family control of the firm lead to a higher dividend payout. Nevertheless, as we also find that managerial compensations are negatively related to dividend payout ratios, even in this family controlled environment, dividends do play their role in mitigating agency problems.

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  • Nalinaksha Bhattacharyya & Julie Ann Elston & Laura Rondi, 2011. "Agency Issues in a Family Controlled Corporate Governance Structure The Case of Italy," CERIS Working Paper 201106, CNR-IRCrES Research Institute on Sustainable Economic Growth - Torino (TO) ITALY - former Institute for Economic Research on Firms and Growth - Moncalieri (TO) ITALY.
    • Handle: RePEc:csc:cerisp:201106
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    1. Volpin, Paolo F., 2002. "Governance with poor investor protection: evidence from top executive turnover in Italy," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 61-90, April.
    2. Robert Carpenter & Laura Rondi, 2006. "Going Public to Grow? Evidence from a Panel of Italian Firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 27(4), pages 387-407, December.
    3. Faccio, Mara & Lang, Larry H. P., 2002. "The ultimate ownership of Western European corporations," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 365-395, September.
    4. 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.
    5. Anderson, Ronald C. & Mansi, Sattar A. & Reeb, David M., 2003. "Founding family ownership and the agency cost of debt," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 263-285, May.
    6. repec:bla:jfinan:v:59:y:2004:i:2:p:537-600 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Elston, Julie Ann & Goldberg, Lawrence G., 2003. "Executive compensation and agency costs in Germany," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(7), pages 1391-1410, July.
    8. Laura Rondi & Julie Ann Elston, 2009. "Corporate Governance And Capital Accumulation: Firm‐Level Evidence From Italy," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 56(5), pages 634-661, November.
    9. Malcolm Baker & Jeffrey Wurgler, 2003. "A Catering Theory of Dividends," NBER Working Papers 9542, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Easterbrook, Frank H, 1984. "Two Agency-Cost Explanations of Dividends," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 74(4), pages 650-659, September.
    11. Marco Becht & Fabrizio Barca, 2001. "The control of corporate Europe," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/13302, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    12. Volpin, Paolo F., 2002. "Governance with poor investor protection: evidence from top executive turnover in Italy," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 61-90, April.
    13. Brunello, Giorgio & Graziano, Clara & Parigi, Bruno M., 2003. "CEO turnover in insider-dominated boards: The Italian case," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(6), pages 1027-1051, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ravichandran K. Subramaniam & Khakan Najaf & Murugasu Thangarajah, 2022. "Board Governance, Dividend Payout and Executive Compensation in Malaysian Firms," Capital Markets Review, Malaysian Finance Association, vol. 30(1), pages 17-35.
    2. Geiler, P.H.M. & Renneboog, L.D.R., 2014. "Executive Remuneration and the Payout Decision," Other publications TiSEM d9ae7344-0a29-4aa0-a016-8, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.

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    JEL classification:

    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G35 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Payout Policy

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