IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/corfin/v17y2011i1p122-133.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Nonnegotiable shares, controlling shareholders, and dividend payments in China

Author

Listed:
  • Huang, Juan Juan
  • Shen, Yifeng
  • Sun, Qian

Abstract

China has some unique institutional features. For example, the shares of listed firms are segmented into negotiable and nonnegotiable ones. The controlling shareholders, usually connected to the government, hold nonnegotiable shares. We examine how these institutional features affected cash dividend payments in China during the period 1994-2006. We find that dividend payments are positively associated with the proportion of nonnegotiable shares in a firm and the proportion of nonnegotiable shares held by the controlling shareholder; moreover, the 2001 China Securities Regulatory Commission stipulation requiring cash dividend payments does not benefit negotiable shareholders. However, we also find that dividend payments are downside flexible, and controlling shareholders cannot force firms to pay or to pay more dividends when firms' earnings decline significantly. The conventional factors, especially profitability or the capability to pay, still play an important role in determining the dividend policy. The propensity to pay and the payout ratio in China are not high compared to those of other countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Huang, Juan Juan & Shen, Yifeng & Sun, Qian, 2011. "Nonnegotiable shares, controlling shareholders, and dividend payments in China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 122-133, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:corfin:v:17:y:2011:i:1:p:122-133
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0929-1199(10)00077-5
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Baker, H. Kent & Mukherjee, Tarun K. & Paskelian, Ohannes George, 2006. "How Norwegian managers view dividend policy," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 155-176, September.
    2. Eugene F. Fama & Kenneth R. French, 2001. "Disappearing Dividends: Changing Firm Characteristics Or Lower Propensity To Pay?," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 14(1), pages 67-79, March.
    3. La Porta, Rafael & Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert, 2000. "Investor protection and corporate governance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(1-2), pages 3-27.
    4. Allen, Franklin & Qian, Jun & Qian, Meijun, 2005. "Law, finance, and economic growth in China," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(1), pages 57-116, July.
    5. Seppo Kinkki, 2008. "Minority Protection and Dividend Policy in Finland," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 14(3), pages 470-502, June.
    6. René M. Stulz, 2007. "The Limits of Financial Globalization," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 19(1), pages 8-15, January.
    7. Chen, Gongmeng & Firth, Michael & Xu, Liping, 2009. "Does the type of ownership control matter? Evidence from China's listed companies," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 171-181, January.
    8. Michael S. Rozeff, 1982. "Growth, Beta And Agency Costs As Determinants Of Dividend Payout Ratios," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 5(3), pages 249-259, September.
    9. Sun, Qian & Tong, Wilson H. S., 2003. "China share issue privatization: the extent of its success," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(2), pages 183-222, November.
    10. Goergen, Marc & Renneboog, Luc & Correia da Silva, Luis, 2005. "When do German firms change their dividends?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 11(1-2), pages 375-399, March.
    11. DeAngelo, Harry & DeAngelo, Linda & Stulz, Rene M., 2006. "Dividend policy and the earned/contributed capital mix: a test of the life-cycle theory," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(2), pages 227-254, August.
    12. Gugler, Klaus & Yurtoglu, B. Burcin, 2003. "Corporate governance and dividend pay-out policy in Germany," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 731-758, August.
    13. von Eije, Henk & Megginson, William L., 2008. "Dividends and share repurchases in the European Union," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(2), pages 347-374, August.
    14. DeAngelo, Harry & DeAngelo, Linda & Skinner, Douglas J, 1992. "Dividends and Losses," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(5), pages 1837-1863, December.
    15. 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.
    16. Yu, Qiao & Du, Bin & Sun, Qian, 2006. "Earnings management at rights issues thresholds--Evidence from China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(12), pages 3453-3468, December.
    17. Megginson, William L & Nash, Robert C & van Randenborgh, Matthias, 1994. "The Financial and Operating Performance of Newly Privatized Firms: An International Empirical Analysis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 49(2), pages 403-452, June.
    18. Jensen, Michael C, 1986. "Agency Costs of Free Cash Flow, Corporate Finance, and Takeovers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(2), pages 323-329, May.
    19. repec:bla:jfinan:v:59:y:2004:i:3:p:1125-1165 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Wang, Jiwei, 2010. "A comparison of shareholder identity and governance mechanisms in the monitoring of CEOs of listed companies in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 24-37, March.
    21. Jeffry M. Netter & William L. Megginson, 2001. "From State to Market: A Survey of Empirical Studies on Privatization," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 39(2), pages 321-389, June.
    22. DeAngelo, Harry & DeAngelo, Linda & Skinner, Douglas J., 2004. "Are dividends disappearing? Dividend concentration and the consolidation of earnings," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(3), pages 425-456, 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. Liu, Chunyan & Uchida, Konari & Yang, Yufeng, 2014. "Controlling shareholder, split-share structure reform and cash dividend payments in China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 339-357.
    2. Renneboog, Luc & Szilagyi, Peter G., 2020. "How relevant is dividend policy under low shareholder protection?," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    3. Schmid, Thomas & Ampenberger, Markus & Kaserer, Christoph & Achleitner, Ann-Kristin, 2010. "Controlling shareholders and payout policy: do founding families have a special 'taste for dividends'?," CEFS Working Paper Series 2010-01, Technische Universität München (TUM), Center for Entrepreneurial and Financial Studies (CEFS).
    4. Szilagyi, P.G., 2007. "Corporate governance and the agency costs of debt and outside equity," Other publications TiSEM 9520d40a-224f-43a8-9bf9-b, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    5. du Jardin, Philippe & Séverin, Eric, 2011. "Dividend policy," MPRA Paper 44382, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Enrico Onali, 2014. "Moral Hazard, Dividends, and Risk in Banks," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(1-2), pages 128-155, January.
    7. He, Wen & Ng, Lilian & Zaiats, Nataliya & Zhang, Bohui, 2017. "Dividend policy and earnings management across countries," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 267-286.
    8. Choy, HiuLam & Gul, Ferdinand A. & Yao, Jun, 2011. "Does political economy reduce agency costs? Some evidence from dividend policies around the world," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 16-35, January.
    9. von Eije, Henk & Megginson, William L., 2008. "Dividends and share repurchases in the European Union," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(2), pages 347-374, August.
    10. Hamdi Ben-Nasr, 2015. "Government Ownership and Dividend Policy: Evidence from Newly Privatised Firms," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(5-6), pages 665-704, June.
    11. Tao, Qizhi & Wei, K.C. John & Xiang, Xueman & Yi, Biao, 2022. "Board directors' foreign experience and firm dividend payouts," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    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. Goyal, Abhinav & Jategaonkar, Shrikant P. & Muckley, Cal B., 2020. "Why do privatized firms pay higher dividends?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    14. Bilinski, Pawel & Lyssimachou, Danielle, 2018. "Dividend guidance to manage analyst dividend expectations," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 53-68.
    15. López-Iturriaga, Félix J. & Santana Martín, Domingo Javier, 2019. "The payout policy of politically connected firms: Tunnelling or reputation?," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    16. 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.
    17. Booth, Laurence & Zhou, Jun, 2017. "Dividend policy: A selective review of results from around the world," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 1-15.
    18. Jasminder Kaur, 2019. "Firm’s Life Cycle Spurs the Dividend Payments: A Fallacy or an Actuality?," Paradigm, , vol. 23(1), pages 36-52, June.
    19. Ernest Gyapong & Ammad Ahmed & Collins G Ntim & Muhammad Nadeem, 2021. "Board gender diversity and dividend policy in Australian listed firms: the effect of ownership concentration," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 38(2), pages 603-643, June.
    20. Hu, Jinshuai & Jiang, Haiyan & Wu, Yibing, 2023. "How does privatization affect cash dividends? Quasi-experimental evidence from China," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).

    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:eee:corfin:v:17:y:2011:i:1:p:122-133. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jcorpfin .

    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.