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The Effect of Financial Flexibility on Payout Policy

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  • Kumar, Anil
  • Vergara-Alert, Carles

Abstract

We use variation in real estate prices as exogenous shocks to firms’ debt capacity to study the causal effect of financial flexibility on payout policy. We show that an increase in financial flexibility results in higher dividends, share repurchases, and payout flexibility. We find that a 1-standard-deviation increase in a firms’ collateral value results in 0.26- and 0.55-percentage-point increases in nondiscretionary and discretionary payouts, respectively. This effect is stronger for firms with few investment opportunities. Moreover, highly leveraged firms are more likely to cut dividends in response to a sharp decrease in their financial flexibility.

Suggested Citation

  • Kumar, Anil & Vergara-Alert, Carles, 2020. "The Effect of Financial Flexibility on Payout Policy," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 55(1), pages 263-289, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:cup:jfinqa:v:55:y:2020:i:1:p:263-289_8
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Adra, Samer & Gao, Yang & Huang, Jin & Yuan, Jiayi, 2023. "Geopolitical risk and corporate payout policy," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    2. Li, Tongxia & Lu, Chun & Chen, Zhihua, 2023. "The unintended consequence of collateral-based financing: Evidence from corporate cost behavior," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1).
    3. Hu, Jiamin & Li, Kailun & Xia, Yifei & Zhang, Jianing, 2023. "Gender diversity and financial flexibility: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    4. Akshita Singh & Shailendra Kumar & Utkarsh Goel & Amar Johri, 2023. "Behavioural biases in real estate investment: a literature review and future research agenda," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-17, December.
    5. Justin Hung Nguyen & Buhui Qiu, 2022. "The effect of skilled labor intensity on corporate dividend payouts," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(5-6), pages 963-1010, May.
    6. Chowdhury, Hasibul & Rahman, Shofiqur, 2023. "Do tournament incentives affect corporate dividend policy?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    7. Ouyang, Puman & Zhong, Ligang, 2023. "Asset redeployability and dividend payout policy," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 91-105.
    8. Zhang, Huilin & Boubaker, Sabri & Ni, Xiaoran, 2024. "Litigating payouts or not? Evidence from universal demand laws," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 136-153.
    9. Carlos P. Maquieira & Christian Espinosa‐Méndez & José T. Arias, 2024. "The impact of environmental, social and governance (ESG) score on dividend payment of large family firms: What is the role of financial constraints? International evidence," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(3), pages 2311-2332, May.
    10. Yilin Luo & Chenkai Ni & James Thewissen, 2024. "Currency flotation and dividend policies: Evidence from China's central parity reform," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 53(1), pages 145-174, March.
    11. Einar C. Kjenstad & Anil Kumar, 2022. "The effect of real estate prices on peer firms," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 50(4), pages 1022-1053, December.

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