IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/reveco/v27y2013icp112-124.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Dividends, investment and cash flow uncertainty: Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Deng, Lu
  • Li, Sifei
  • Liao, Mingqing
  • Wu, Weixing

Abstract

This paper investigates the relation between dividends and investment for Chinese listed firms in a condition of cash flow uncertainty. We find that facing cash flow uncertainty, Chinese firms neither cut dividends nor cut investment, but maintain extremely high level of investment. External financing is the only instrument that resolves cash flow uncertainty. We further find that there is an “N-shaped” nonlinear relation between dividends and investment given different levels of cash flow uncertainty. These results can be explained by China's special institutional settings in which firms have strong incentives to spend capital on both dividend payout and make investment.

Suggested Citation

  • Deng, Lu & Li, Sifei & Liao, Mingqing & Wu, Weixing, 2013. "Dividends, investment and cash flow uncertainty: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 112-124.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:reveco:v:27:y:2013:i:c:p:112-124
    DOI: 10.1016/j.iref.2012.09.005
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1059056012000950
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.iref.2012.09.005?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. Mbodja Mougoue, 2008. "An empirical re-examination of the dividend-investment relation," Quantitative Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(5), pages 533-546.
    2. Sudarshan Jayaraman, 2008. "Earnings Volatility, Cash Flow Volatility, and Informed Trading," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(4), pages 809-851, September.
    3. 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.
    4. Fama, Eugene F, 1974. "The Empirical Relationships Between the Dividend and Investment Decisions of Firms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 64(3), pages 304-318, June.
    5. Zheng Song & Kjetil Storesletten & Fabrizio Zilibotti, 2011. "Growing Like China," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(1), pages 196-233, February.
    6. Chay, J.B. & Suh, Jungwon, 2009. "Payout policy and cash-flow uncertainty," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(1), pages 88-107, July.
    7. McDonald, John G. & Jacquillat, Bertrand & Nussenbaum, Maurice, 1975. "Dividend, Investment and Financing Decisions: Empirical Evidence on French Firms," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(5), pages 741-755, December.
    8. 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.
    9. Tamim Bayoumi & Hui Tong & Shang-Jin Wei, 2012. "The Chinese Corporate Savings Puzzle: A Firm-level Cross-Country Perspective," NBER Chapters, in: Capitalizing China, pages 283-308, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Chan, Kam C. & Fung, Hung-Gay & Thapa, Samanta, 2007. "China financial research: A review and synthesis," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 416-428.
    11. 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.
    12. Chow, Clement K.W. & Song, Frank M. & Wong, Kit Pong, 2010. "Investment and the soft budget constraint in China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 219-227, April.
    13. Qian, Yingyi & Roland, Gerard, 1998. "Federalism and the Soft Budget Constraint," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(5), pages 1143-1162, December.
    14. Robert Ferber, 1967. "Determinants of Investment Behavior," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number ferb67-1.
    15. Phoebus J. Dhrymes & Mordecai Kurz, 1967. "Investment, Dividend, and External Finance Behavior of Firms," NBER Chapters, in: Determinants of Investment Behavior, pages 427-485, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Holt, Richard W. P., 2003. "Investment and dividends under irreversibility and financial constraints," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 467-502, January.
    17. Deng Lu & Li Si-fei & Wu Wei-xing, 2011. "Market discounts and announcement effects of private placements: evidence from China," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(15), pages 1411-1414.
    18. Merton H. Miller & Franco Modigliani, 1961. "Dividend Policy, Growth, and the Valuation of Shares," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34, pages 411-411.
    19. DeAngelo, Harry & DeAngelo, Linda & Skinner, Douglas J., 1994. "Accounting choice in troubled companies," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(1-2), pages 113-143, January.
    20. Ieuan G. Morgan & Jacques Saint-Pierre, 1978. "Dividend and Investment Decisions of Canadian Firms," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 11(1), pages 20-37, February.
    21. Healy, Paul M. & Palepu, Krishna G., 1990. "Effectiveness of accounting-based dividend covenants," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(1-3), pages 97-123, January.
    22. Wang, David Han-Min, 2010. "Corporate investment, financing, and dividend policies in the high-tech industry," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(5), pages 486-489, May.
    23. DeAngelo, Harry & DeAngelo, Linda, 1990. "Dividend Policy and Financial Distress: An Empirical Investigation of Troubled NYSE Firms," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 45(5), pages 1415-1431, December.
    24. Higgins, Robert C., 1972. "The Corporate Dividend-Saving Decision," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 7(2), pages 1527-1541, March.
    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. Su, Zhong-qin & Fung, Hung-Gay & Huang, Deng-shi & Shen, Chung-Hua, 2014. "Cash dividends, expropriation, and political connections: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 260-272.
    2. Zhang, Jianhua & Zhao, Zhao & Jian, Wenqing, 2020. "Do cash flow imbalances facilitate leverage adjustments of Chinese listed firms? Evidence from a dynamic panel threshold model," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 201-214.
    3. Chin-Sheng Huang & Chun-Fan You & Hueh-Chen Lin, 2014. "Dividend-Yield Trading Strategies: Evidence from the Chinese Stock Market," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 4(2), pages 382-399.
    4. Barros, Victor & Verga Matos, Pedro & Miranda Sarmento, Joaquim & Rino Vieira, Pedro, 2023. "High-tech firms: Dividend policy in a context of sustainability and technological change," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    5. Deng, Lu & Li, Sifei & Liao, Mingqing, 2017. "Dividends and earnings quality: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 255-268.
    6. Yang, Bao & Chou, Hsin-I. & Zhao, Jing, 2020. "Innovation or dividend payout: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 180-203.
    7. Lin, Boqiang & Li, Minyang, 2022. "Understanding the investment of renewable energy firms in the face of economic policy uncertainty – Micro-evidence from listed companies in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    8. Bradford, William & Chen, Chao & Zhu, Song, 2013. "Cash dividend policy, corporate pyramids, and ownership structure: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 445-464.
    9. Chintrakarn, Pandej & Chatjuthamard, Pattanaporn & Tong, Shenghui & Jiraporn, Pornsit, 2018. "How do powerful CEOs view dividends and stock repurchases? Evidence from the CEO pay slice (CPS)," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 49-64.
    10. Poulomi Lahiri, 2019. "Dividend and Investment Decisions of Indian Corporate Firms Under Cash Flow Uncertainty," Jindal Journal of Business Research, , vol. 8(2), pages 128-141, December.
    11. Lee, Chi-Chuan & Lee, Chien-Chiang & Xiao, Shunyi, 2021. "Policy-related risk and corporate financing behavior: Evidence from China’s listed companies," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 539-547.
    12. Nguyen, Truong-Giang, 2020. "Stock liquidity and dividend policy: Evidence from an imputation tax environment," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    13. Mishra, Anil V. & Ratti, Ronald A., 2014. "Taxation of domestic dividend income and foreign investment holdings," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 218-231.
    14. Sai Ding & Minjoo Kim & Xiao Zhang, 2021. "New Insight on Investment-Cash Flow Sensitivity," Working Papers 2021_16, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.
    15. 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.
    16. Yen, Ju-Fang & Chen, Yan-Shing & Shen, Chung-Hua & Lin, Chih-Yung, 2014. "Why do firms allow their CEOs to join trade associations? An embeddedness view," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 47-61.
    17. Hussain Haroon & Md-Rus Rohani & Al-Jaifi Hamdan Amer & Hussain Rana Yassir, 2022. "Determinants of Corporate Pay-Out Policy and the Moderating Effects of Firm's Growth: Evidence from Pakistan," Studia Universitatis „Vasile Goldis” Arad – Economics Series, Sciendo, vol. 32(3), pages 65-101, September.
    18. Zhao, Yu Fang & Xia, Xin Ping & Tang, Xiang Xi & Cao, Wei & Liu, Xiao Yuan & Fan, Ying Han, 2015. "Private placements, cash dividends and interests transfer: Empirical evidence from Chinese listed firms," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 107-118.

    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. Frankfurter, George M. & Wood, Bob Jr., 2002. "Dividend policy theories and their empirical tests," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 11(2), pages 111-138.
    2. Cheng-Few Lee & Woan-lih Liang & Fu-Lai Lin & Yating Yang, 2016. "Applications of simultaneous equations in finance research: methods and empirical results," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 47(4), pages 943-971, November.
    3. P. S. Sanju & P. S. Nirmala & M. Ramachandran, 2011. "Are dividend and investment decisions separable?," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(20), pages 1515-1524.
    4. Poulomi Lahiri, 2019. "Dividend and Investment Decisions of Indian Corporate Firms Under Cash Flow Uncertainty," Jindal Journal of Business Research, , vol. 8(2), pages 128-141, December.
    5. Gugler, Klaus, 2003. "Corporate governance, dividend payout policy, and the interrelation between dividends, R&D, and capital investment," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(7), pages 1297-1321, July.
    6. Riccetti, Luca & Russo, Alberto & Gallegati, Mauro, 2016. "Financialisation and crisis in an agent based macroeconomic model," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 52(PA), pages 162-172.
    7. Yu, Chih-Ping, 2015. "Financial policies on firm performance: The U.S. insurance industry before and after the global financial crisis," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 391-402.
    8. Wang, David Han-Min, 2010. "Corporate investment, financing, and dividend policies in the high-tech industry," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(5), pages 486-489, May.
    9. 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).
    10. Yang, Bao & Chou, Hsin-I. & Zhao, Jing, 2020. "Innovation or dividend payout: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 180-203.
    11. Lee, King Fuei, 2018. "Peer Effects on Firm Dividend Policies in Taiwan," MPRA Paper 103102, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Sai Ding & Minjoo Kim & Xiao Zhang, 2021. "New Insight on Investment-Cash Flow Sensitivity," Working Papers 2021_16, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.
    13. Jiang, Fuxiu & Ma, Yunbiao & Shi, Beibei, 2017. "Stock liquidity and dividend payouts," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 295-314.
    14. Kuo‐Cheng Kuo & Wen‐Min Lu & Thanh Nhan Dinh, 2020. "Firm performance and ownership structure: Dynamic network data envelopment analysis approach," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(4), pages 608-623, June.
    15. Serge Nadeau & Robert P. Strauss, 1991. "Tax Policies and the Real and Financial Decisions of the Firm: the Effects of the Tax Reform Act of 1986," Public Finance Review, , vol. 19(3), pages 251-292, July.
    16. Eva Liljeblom & Sabur Mollah & Patrik Rotter, 2015. "Do dividends signal future earnings in the Nordic stock markets?," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 44(3), pages 493-511, April.
    17. Adaoglu, Cahit, 2000. "Instability in the dividend policy of the Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE) corporations: evidence from an emerging market," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 1(3), pages 252-270, November.
    18. 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.
    19. Mbodja Mougoué & Tarun K. Mukherjee, 1994. "An Investigation Into The Causality Among Firms' Dividend, Investment, And Financing Decisions," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 17(4), pages 517-530, December.
    20. Daniel, Naveen D. & Denis, David J. & Naveen, Lalitha, 2008. "Do firms manage earnings to meet dividend thresholds," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 2-26, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Dividend; Investment; Cash flow uncertainty;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G31 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Capital Budgeting; Fixed Investment and Inventory Studies
    • 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:reveco:v:27:y:2013:i:c:p:112-124. 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/inca/620165 .

    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.