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Dividend policy in Nordic listed firms

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  • Brunzell, Tor
  • Liljeblom, Eva
  • Löflund, Anders
  • Vaihekoski, Mika

Abstract

In this paper we analyze the results from a survey among all publicly listed Nordic firms on their dividend payout policy. The results show that 72% of the Nordic companies have a specified dividend policy. Larger and more profitable companies are more likely to have a defined dividend policy in place. The dividend policy is mostly influenced by capital structure considerations and the outlook of future earnings. We also find that the likelihood for a firm having an explicit dividend policy is positively related to ownership concentration as well as to the presence of large long-term private or industrial owners. Our results support the use of defined dividend policies for agency or monitoring reasons rather than signaling reasons.

Suggested Citation

  • Brunzell, Tor & Liljeblom, Eva & Löflund, Anders & Vaihekoski, Mika, 2014. "Dividend policy in Nordic listed firms," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 124-135.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:glofin:v:25:y:2014:i:2:p:124-135
    DOI: 10.1016/j.gfj.2014.06.004
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    Cited by:

    1. Nor Anis Shafai & Annuar Md. Nassir & Fakarudin Kamarudin & Norhuda Abdul Rahim & Nor Hayati Ahmad, 2019. "Dynamic Panel Model of Dividend Policies: Malaysian Perspective," Contemporary Economics, University of Economics and Human Sciences in Warsaw., vol. 13(3), September.
    2. Nor Anis Shafai, 2023. "Different Market Segmentations of Dividend Policies: A Dynamic Panel Data Analysis," GATR Journals afr222, Global Academy of Training and Research (GATR) Enterprise.
    3. Kartal Demirg ne, 2015. "Determinants of Target Dividend Payout Ratio: A Panel Autoregressive Distributed Lag Analysis," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 5(2), pages 418-426.
    4. 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.
    5. Abdullah, Hariem, 2021. "Profitability and Leverage as Determinants of Dividend Policy: Evidence of Turkish Financial Firms," MPRA Paper 112134, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Bashir Zahid & Rafique Zulqurnain Zeeshan & Toor Kashif Naseer, 2022. "How do dynamic financing decisions explain the behavior of dividend payout policies?: An Empirical Study of Listed Pakistani Manufacturing Firms," Financial Internet Quarterly (formerly e-Finanse), Sciendo, vol. 18(1), pages 1-15, March.
    7. Khalfan, Twahir M. & Wendt, Stefan, 2020. "The impact of ownership concentration on payout across Nordic firms," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Corporate finance; Dividend policy; Payout; NASDAQ OMX;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G31 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Capital Budgeting; Fixed Investment and Inventory Studies
    • M21 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Economics - - - Business Economics
    • O16 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance

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