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CEO marital status and dividend policy

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  • Hossain, Md Noman
  • Rabarison, Monika K.
  • Ater, Brandon
  • Sobngwi, Christian K.

Abstract

We investigate whether and how CEO marital status is related to dividend policy. We find that firms run by single CEOs are less likely to pay dividends. Further analyses reveal that the aforementioned relation is stronger for single CEOs who are more risk-seeking, have compensation packages with lower pay-performance sensitivity, are less conservative, or are less engaged in corporate social responsibility activities. Our results hold in multiple robustness and endogeneity tests, including propensity score matching, difference-in-differences estimation, and an instrumental variable regression. Overall, our findings contribute to the literature highlighting the importance of CEOs' personal attributes for corporate decisions.

Suggested Citation

  • Hossain, Md Noman & Rabarison, Monika K. & Ater, Brandon & Sobngwi, Christian K., 2023. "CEO marital status and dividend policy," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:corfin:v:78:y:2023:i:c:s0929119922001857
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2022.102342
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    Cited by:

    1. Ming-Hua Liu & Shaohua Tian & Yang Zhang, 2023. "CEO marital status and corporate tax planning behavior," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 61(4), pages 1207-1242, November.
    2. Cai, Xiangshang & Gao, Yang & Wu, Zhiting & Yuan, Jiayi, 2024. "Chief executive officer marital status and corporate credit ratings," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 95(PA).
    3. Xu, Xixiong & Lin, Cuiliang & Wang, Maochuan, 2024. "Does parenting daughters increase corporate cash dividends? Evidence from Chinese family firms," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Dividend policy; CEO marital status; Risk preferences; Behavioral corporate finance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G35 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Payout Policy
    • G41 - Financial Economics - - Behavioral Finance - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making in Financial Markets

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