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What drives the disappearing dividends phenomenon?

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  • Kuo, Jing-Ming
  • Philip, Dennis
  • Zhang, Qingjing

Abstract

We study the determinants of dividend payout policy and examine the role of liquidity, risk and catering in explaining the changes in propensity to pay. Our results indicate that risk plays a major role in firms’ dividend policy. The evidence substantiates from a large sample of firms representing 18 countries over the sample period from 1989 to 2011. For firms in the US, France, UK and Other European markets, liquidity is additionally an important determinant of dividend policy. We find that, although catering incentives persist only among firms in common law countries and not in civil law countries, after adjusting for risk there is little support for catering theory even among firms incorporated in common law countries. Our results indicate that catering incentives reflect the risk-reward relationship in the changing propensity to pay dividends.

Suggested Citation

  • Kuo, Jing-Ming & Philip, Dennis & Zhang, Qingjing, 2013. "What drives the disappearing dividends phenomenon?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 3499-3514.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbfina:v:37:y:2013:i:9:p:3499-3514
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbankfin.2013.05.003
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    Cited by:

    1. 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.
    2. Rihanat Idowu Abdulkadir & Nur Adiana Hiau Abdullah & Wong Woei-Chyuan, 2015. "Dividend Policy Changes in The Pre-, Mid-, and Post-Financial Crisis: Evidence from The Nigerian Stock Market," Asian Academy of Management Journal of Accounting and Finance (AAMJAF), Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia, vol. 11(2), pages 103-126.
    3. 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-.
    4. Hadfi Bilel & Kouki Mondher, 2021. "What Can explain catering of dividend? Environment information and investor sentiment," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 45(3), pages 428-450, July.
    5. 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).
    6. repec:ers:journl:v:v:y:2017:i:4:p:104-132 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Nabaraj Adhikari, Ph.D., 2015. "Determinants of Corporate Dividend Payout in Nepal," NRB Economic Review, Nepal Rastra Bank, Economic Research Department, vol. 27(2), pages 53-74, October.
    8. Kent Baker, H. & De Ridder, Adri, 2018. "Payout policy in industrial and financial firms," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 138-151.
    9. Victor Dragotă & Camelia Delcea, 2019. "How Long Does It Last to Systematically Make Bad Decisions? An Agent-Based Application for Dividend Policy," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-34, November.
    10. Abdullah AlGhazali & Khamis Hamed Al-Yahyaee & Richard Fairchild & Yilmaz Guney, 2024. "What do dividend changes reveal? Theory and evidence from a unique environment," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 62(2), pages 499-552, February.
    11. Nabaraj Adhikari, Ph.D., 2015. "Determinants of Corporate Dividend Payout in Nepal," NRB Economic Review, Nepal Rastra Bank, Research Department, vol. 27(2), pages 1-22, October.
    12. Kamal Anouar & Nicolas Aubert, 2016. "Does the catering theory of dividend apply to the French listed firms?," Working Papers halshs-01401867, HAL.
    13. Khelifa Mazouz & Yuliang Wu & Rabab Ebrahim & Abhijit Sharma, 2023. "Dividend policy, systematic liquidity risk, and the cost of equity capital," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 60(3), pages 839-876, April.
    14. He, Wen & Zhang, Feida, 2022. "Languages and dividends," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(6).
    15. Warwick Anderson & Wen Kang, 2018. "The Relative Announcement Effects of Ordinary Dividends, Special Dividends and Share Buybacks in New Zealand," Working Papers in Economics 18/02, University of Canterbury, Department of Economics and Finance.
    16. 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).
    17. Anwer, Zaheer & Mohamad, Shamsher & Paltrinieri, Andrea & Hassan, M. Kabir, 2021. "Dividend payout policy of Shariah compliant firms: Evidence from United States," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    18. Emmanuel Caiazzo & Leonardo Gambacorta & Tommaso Oliviero & Hyun Song Shin, 2024. "Corporate payout policy: are financial firms different?," BIS Working Papers 1168, Bank for International Settlements.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Catering; Dividend payout policy; Risk; Liquidity; Life-cycle effect;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • G15 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - International Financial Markets
    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General
    • G35 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Payout Policy

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