IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/empfin/v35y2016icp1-13.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Corporate payout smoothing: A variance decomposition approach

Author

Listed:
  • Hoang, Edward C.
  • Hoxha, Indrit

Abstract

In this paper, we apply a variance decomposition methodology to quantify the smoothness of corporate payouts. We find that firms use debt and investment to smooth a large fraction of shocks to net income to keep payouts less variable. Specifically, our empirical results show that firms keep the growth of payouts relatively small and stable over time. Furthermore, our findings support theoretical work that demonstrates that the dynamics of investment and debt policy should be jointly modeled with payout policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Hoang, Edward C. & Hoxha, Indrit, 2016. "Corporate payout smoothing: A variance decomposition approach," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 1-13.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:empfin:v:35:y:2016:i:c:p:1-13
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jempfin.2015.10.011
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927539815001097
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jempfin.2015.10.011?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    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. Stewart C. Myers & Nicholas S. Majluf, 1984. "Corporate Financing and Investment Decisions When Firms Have InformationThat Investors Do Not Have," NBER Working Papers 1396, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Myers, Stewart C. & Majluf, Nicholas S., 1984. "Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 187-221, June.
    3. Christopher A. Hennessy & Toni M. Whited, 2007. "How Costly Is External Financing? Evidence from a Structural Estimation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 62(4), pages 1705-1745, August.
    4. Skinner, Douglas J., 2008. "The evolving relation between earnings, dividends, and stock repurchases," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(3), pages 582-609, March.
    5. Patrick Bolton & Hui Chen & Neng Wang, 2011. "A Unified Theory of Tobin's q, Corporate Investment, Financing, and Risk Management," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(5), pages 1545-1578, October.
    6. Pierfederico Asdrubali & Bent E. Sørensen & Oved Yosha, 1996. "Channels of Interstate Risk Sharing: United States 1963–1990," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 111(4), pages 1081-1110.
    7. Bent E. S�rensen & Oved Yosha, 1998. "International Risk Sharing and European Monetary Unification," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 327, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    8. Strebulaev, Ilya A. & Whited, Toni M., 2012. "Dynamic Models and Structural Estimation in Corporate Finance," Foundations and Trends(R) in Finance, now publishers, vol. 6(1–2), pages 1-163, November.
    9. Jeffrey R. Brown & Nellie Liang & Scott Weisbenner, 2007. "Executive Financial Incentives and Payout Policy: Firm Responses to the 2003 Dividend Tax Cut," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 62(4), pages 1935-1965, August.
    10. Jagannathan, Murali & Stephens, Clifford P. & Weisbach, Michael S., 2000. "Financial flexibility and the choice between dividends and stock repurchases," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(3), pages 355-384, September.
    11. Rajan, Raghuram G & Zingales, Luigi, 1998. "Financial Dependence and Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(3), pages 559-586, June.
    12. Murillo Campello & Erasmo Giambona & John R. Graham & Campbell R. Harvey, 2011. "Liquidity Management and Corporate Investment During a Financial Crisis," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 24(6), pages 1944-1979.
    13. Sorensen, Bent E. & Yosha, Oved, 1998. "International risk sharing and European monetary unification," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 211-238, August.
    14. Brav, Alon & Graham, John R. & Harvey, Campbell R. & Michaely, Roni, 2005. "Payout policy in the 21st century," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(3), pages 483-527, September.
    15. Steven M. Fazzari & R. Glenn Hubbard & Bruce C. Petersen, 1988. "Financing Constraints and Corporate Investment," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 19(1), pages 141-206.
    16. Christopher A. Hennessy & Toni M. Whited, 2005. "Debt Dynamics," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(3), pages 1129-1165, June.
    17. Mark T. Leary & Roni Michaely, 2011. "Determinants of Dividend Smoothing: Empirical Evidence," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 24(10), pages 3197-3249.
    18. Campello, Murillo & Graham, John R. & Harvey, Campbell R., 2010. "The real effects of financial constraints: Evidence from a financial crisis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(3), pages 470-487, September.
    19. Xin Chang & Sudipto Dasgupta & George Wong & Jiaquan Yao, 2014. "Cash-Flow Sensitivities and the Allocation of Internal Cash Flow," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 27(12), pages 3628-3657.
    20. Vladimir A. Gatchev & Todd Pulvino & Vefa Tarhan, 2010. "The Interdependent and Intertemporal Nature of Financial Decisions: An Application to Cash Flow Sensitivities," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(2), pages 725-763, April.
    21. R. David Mclean & Mengxin Zhao, 2014. "The Business Cycle, Investor Sentiment, and Costly External Finance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 69(3), pages 1377-1409, June.
    22. DeAngelo, Harry & DeAngelo, Linda & Whited, Toni M., 2011. "Capital structure dynamics and transitory debt," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(2), pages 235-261, February.
    23. Anand Mohan Goel, 2003. "Why Do Firms Smooth Earnings?," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 76(1), pages 151-192, January.
    24. David J. Denis & Stephen B. McKeon, 2012. "Debt Financing and Financial Flexibility Evidence from Proactive Leverage Increases," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 25(6), pages 1897-1929.
    25. Sørensen, Bent E & Ostergaard, Charlotte & Sasson, Amir, 2011. "The marginal value of cash, cash flow sensitivities, and bank-finance shocks in nonlisted firms," CEPR Discussion Papers 8278, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    26. Francisco Covas & Wouter J. Den Haan, 2011. "The Cyclical Behavior of Debt and Equity Finance," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(2), pages 877-899, April.
    27. Lucia Foster & John Haltiwanger & C. J. Krizan, 2006. "Market Selection, Reallocation, and Restructuring in the U.S. Retail Trade Sector in the 1990s," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 88(4), pages 748-758, November.
    28. Bart M. Lambrecht & Stewart C. Myers, 2012. "A Lintner Model of Payout and Managerial Rents," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 67(5), pages 1761-1810, October.
    29. Myers, Stewart C & Lambrecht, Bart, 2014. "The Dynamics of Investment, Payout and Debt," CEPR Discussion Papers 9926, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Fliers, Philip T., 2019. "What is the relation between financial flexibility and dividend smoothing?," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 98-111.
    2. Balli, Faruk & Agyemang, Abraham & Gregory-Allen, Russell & Ozer Balli, Hatice, 2022. "Corporate dividend smoothing: The role of cross-listing," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    3. Jianfu Shen & Kwong Wing Chau, 2022. "The Effect of Access to the Public Debt Market on Corporate Financing Decisions: The Case of REITs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-19, June.
    4. Anshu Agrawal, 2020. "Modified Total Interpretive Structural Model of Corporate Financial Flexibility," Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management, Springer;Global Institute of Flexible Systems Management, vol. 21(4), pages 369-388, December.
    5. Balli, Faruk & De Bruin, Anne & Balli, Hatice Ozer & Karimov, Jamshid, 2020. "Corporate net income and payout smoothing under Shari'ah compliance," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    6. Wu, Ming & Ohk, Kiyool & Ko, Kwangsoo, 2019. "Are cash-flow betas really bad? Evidence from the Greater Chinese stock markets," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 58-68.
    7. Ao Yang & Wenqi Li & Brian Sheng Xian Teo & Jaizah Othman, 2022. "The Impact of Financial Derivatives on the Enterprise Value of Chinese Listed Companies: Moderating Effects of Managerial Characteristics," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-18, December.
    8. Basse, Tobias & Klein, Tony & Vigne, Samuel A. & Wegener, Christoph, 2021. "U.S. stock prices and the dot.com-bubble: Can dividend policy rescue the efficient market hypothesis?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    9. Viviana Ventre & Roberta Martino, 2022. "Quantification of Aversion to Uncertainty in Intertemporal Choice through Subjective Perception of Time," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 10(22), pages 1-16, November.
    10. Guohua He & Zirun Hu, 2023. "Precautionary Saving and Liquidity Shortage," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-15, January.
    11. Kong, Dongmin & Ji, Mianmian & Zhang, Fan, 2022. "Individual investors’ dividend tax reform and corporate social responsibility," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    12. Li, Shengfeng & Hoque, Hafiz & Thijssen, Jacco, 2021. "Firm financial behaviour dynamics and interactions: A structural vector autoregression approach," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).

    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. Balli, Faruk & Agyemang, Abraham & Gregory-Allen, Russell & Ozer Balli, Hatice, 2022. "Corporate dividend smoothing: The role of cross-listing," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    2. Strebulaev, Ilya A. & Whited, Toni M., 2012. "Dynamic Models and Structural Estimation in Corporate Finance," Foundations and Trends(R) in Finance, now publishers, vol. 6(1–2), pages 1-163, November.
    3. Drobetz, Wolfgang & Haller, Rebekka & Meier, Iwan & Tarhan, Vefa, 2017. "The impact of liquidity crises on cash flow sensitivities," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 225-239.
    4. Bessler, Wolfgang & Drobetz, Wolfgang & Haller, Rebekka & Meier, Iwan, 2013. "The international zero-leverage phenomenon," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 196-221.
    5. Li, Shengfeng & Hoque, Hafiz & Thijssen, Jacco, 2021. "Firm financial behaviour dynamics and interactions: A structural vector autoregression approach," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    6. Adra, Samer & Gao, Yang & Huang, Jin & Yuan, Jiayi, 2023. "Geopolitical risk and corporate payout policy," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    7. Alice Bonaimé & Jarrad Harford & Jarrad Harford, 2020. "Payout Policy Trade-Offs and the Rise of 10b5-1 Preset Repurchase Plans," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(6), pages 2762-2786, June.
    8. Bolton, Patrick & Wang, Neng & Yang, Jinqiang, 2019. "Investment under uncertainty with financial constraints," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    9. Ayyagari, Meghana & Demirgüç-Kunt, Asli & Maksimovic, Vojislav, 2021. "How common are credit-less recoveries? Firm-level evidence on the role of financial markets in crisis recovery," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    10. Rapp, Marc Steffen & Schmid, Thomas & Urban, Daniel, 2014. "The value of financial flexibility and corporate financial policy," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 288-302.
    11. Balli, Faruk & De Bruin, Anne & Balli, Hatice Ozer & Karimov, Jamshid, 2020. "Corporate net income and payout smoothing under Shari'ah compliance," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    12. Amess, Kevin & Banerji, Sanjay & Lampousis, Athanasios, 2015. "Corporate cash holdings: Causes and consequences," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 421-433.
    13. Xiaoji Lin & Fan Yang & Frederico Belo, 2014. "External Equity Financing Costs, Financial Flows, and Asset Prices," 2014 Meeting Papers 863, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    14. Harry DeAngelo & Andrei S. Gonçalves & René M. Stulz, 2016. "Corporate Deleveraging," NBER Working Papers 22828, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Andrea Mercatanti & Taneli Mäkinen & Andrea Silvestrini, 2017. "Investment decisions by European firms and financing constraints," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 1148, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    16. Frederico Belo & Xiaoji Lin & Fan Yang, 2019. "External Equity Financing Shocks, Financial Flows, and Asset Prices," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 32(9), pages 3500-3543.
    17. Bontempi, Maria Elena & Bottazzi, Laura & Golinelli, Roberto, 2020. "A multilevel index of heterogeneous short-term and long-term debt dynamics," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    18. Alex Edmans & William Mann, 2019. "Financing Through Asset Sales," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(7), pages 3043-3060, July.
    19. Chen, Mingqin & Xie, Jing & Li, Yue, 2022. "Heterogeneity of dividend smoothing: A strategic response to peer competition in China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    20. Danso, Albert & Lartey, Theophilus & Amankwah-Amoah, Joseph & Adomako, Samuel & Lu, Qinye & Uddin, Moshfique, 2019. "Market sentiment and firm investment decision-making," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Debt; Investment; Lintner model; Net income; Payout;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General
    • 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

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:empfin:v:35:y:2016:i:c:p:1-13. 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/jempfin .

    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.