IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eme/cfripp/v1y2011i2p152-167.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Dividends and tunneling: evidence from family firms in China

Author

Listed:
  • Feng Xu'nan

Abstract

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to empirically analyze the motive of family‐controlled firms to pay cash dividends in China. Design/methodology/approach - Using some econometrical models, the paper designs and conducts a series of empirical research on cash dividends behavior, thus acquiring credible empirical data. Findings - Using a sample of 204 family firms, the motive of family‐controlled firms to pay cash dividends was investigated. Dividend ratio was found to decrease with the separation of ultimate ownership and control right; this may reflect the tunneling motive of the family owners. Different from others, it was also found that high‐growth firms pay more dividends and that the family doing so may want to build a high reputation for the friendly treatment of minority investors for future financing. Practical implications - The paper discusses investor protection matters in China. Originality/value - The paper' findings provide policy implications for corporate governance reform and capital market development in China.

Suggested Citation

  • Feng Xu'nan, 2011. "Dividends and tunneling: evidence from family firms in China," China Finance Review International, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 1(2), pages 152-167, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:eme:cfripp:v:1:y:2011:i:2:p:152-167
    DOI: 10.1108/20441391111100732
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/20441391111100732/full/html?utm_source=repec&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=repec
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/20441391111100732/full/pdf?utm_source=repec&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=repec
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1108/20441391111100732?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. Stein, Jeremy C, 1997. "Internal Capital Markets and the Competition for Corporate Resources," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(1), pages 111-133, March.
    2. 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.
    3. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez‐De‐Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert Vishny, 2002. "Investor Protection and Corporate Valuation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(3), pages 1147-1170, June.
    4. Grossman, Sanford J. & Hart, Oliver D., 1988. "One share-one vote and the market for corporate control," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(1-2), pages 175-202, January.
    5. Doidge, Craig & Karolyi, G. Andrew & Stulz, Rene M., 2004. "Why are foreign firms listed in the U.S. worth more?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(2), pages 205-238, February.
    6. repec:bla:jfinan:v:59:y:2004:i:2:p:537-600 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. 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.
    8. Rene M. Stulz, 1999. "Globalization of Equity Markets and the Cost of Capital," NBER Working Papers 7021, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Brandt, Loren & Li, Hongbin, 2003. "Bank discrimination in transition economies: ideology, information, or incentives?," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 387-413, September.
    10. repec:bla:jfinan:v:59:y:2004:i:3:p:1125-1165 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Armando Gomes, 2000. "Going Public without Governance: Managerial Reputation Effects," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(2), pages 615-646, April.
    12. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez‐De‐Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 1999. "Corporate Ownership Around the World," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(2), pages 471-517, April.
    13. Cull, Robert & Xu, Lixin Colin, 2003. "Who gets credit? The behavior of bureaucrats and state banks in allocating credit to Chinese state-owned enterprises," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(2), pages 533-559, August.
    14. Zwiebel, Jeffrey, 1996. "Dynamic Capital Structure under Managerial Entrenchment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(5), pages 1197-1215, December.
    15. Baker, Malcolm & Wurgler, Jeffrey, 2004. "Appearing and disappearing dividends: The link to catering incentives," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(2), pages 271-288, August.
    16. Reese, William Jr. & Weisbach, Michael S., 2002. "Protection of minority shareholder interests, cross-listings in the United States, and subsequent equity offerings," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 65-104, October.
    17. Fluck, Zsuzsanna & Lynch, Anthony W, 1999. "Why Do Firms Merge and Then Divest? A Theory of Financial Synergy," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 72(3), pages 319-346, July.
    18. Heitor V. Almeida & Daniel Wolfenzon, 2006. "A Theory of Pyramidal Ownership and Family Business Groups," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(6), pages 2637-2680, December.
    19. Claessens, Stijn & Djankov, Simeon & Lang, Larry H. P., 2000. "The separation of ownership and control in East Asian Corporations," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(1-2), pages 81-112.
    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. Giovanna Gavana & Pietro Gottardo & Anna Maria Moisello, 2019. "What Form of Visibility Affects Earnings Management? Evidence from Italian Family and Non-Family Firms," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-14, March.
    2. Fang, Hongyan & Song, Zhihui & Nofsinger, John R. & Wang, Yuyue, 2017. "Trading restrictions and firm dividends: The share lockup expiration experience in China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 83-98.

    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. Lucian A. Bebchuk & Michael S. Weisbach, 2012. "The State of Corporate Governance Research," Springer Books, in: Sabri Boubaker & Bang Dang Nguyen & Duc Khuong Nguyen (ed.), Corporate Governance, edition 127, pages 325-346, Springer.
    2. Klapper, Leora F. & Love, Inessa, 2004. "Corporate governance, investor protection, and performance in emerging markets," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 10(5), pages 703-728, November.
    3. Jiang, Li & Kim, Jeong-Bon & Pang, Lei, 2011. "Control-ownership wedge and investment sensitivity to stock price," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(11), pages 2856-2867, November.
    4. Zeineb Barka & Taher Hamza, 2020. "The effect of large controlling shareholders on equity prices in France: monitoring or entrenchment?," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 24(3), pages 769-798, September.
    5. Mike Burkart & Fausto Panunzi & Andrei Shleifer, 2003. "Family Firms," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(5), pages 2167-2201, October.
    6. Bergman, Nittai K. & Nicolaievsky, Daniel, 2007. "Investor protection and the Coasian view," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(3), pages 738-771, June.
    7. Mehdi Nekhili & Moêz Cherif, 2011. "Related parties transactions and firm's market value: the French case," Review of Accounting and Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 10(3), pages 291-315, August.
    8. Michael N. Young & Mike W. Peng & David Ahlstrom & Garry D. Bruton & Yi Jiang, 2008. "Corporate Governance in Emerging Economies: A Review of the Principal–Principal Perspective," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(1), pages 196-220, January.
    9. Nenova, Tatiana, 2006. "Takeover laws and financial development," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4029, The World Bank.
    10. Connelly, J. Thomas & Limpaphayom, Piman & Nagarajan, Nandu J., 2012. "Form versus substance: The effect of ownership structure and corporate governance on firm value in Thailand," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 1722-1743.
    11. Dahya, Jay & Dimitrov, Orlin & McConnell, John J., 2008. "Dominant shareholders, corporate boards, and corporate value: A cross-country analysis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 73-100, January.
    12. A. Melih Küllü & Steven Raymar, 2018. "Groups, Pricing, and Cost of Debt: Evidence from Turkey," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-31, March.
    13. Azofra, Valentín & Santamaría, Marcos, 2011. "Ownership, control, and pyramids in Spanish commercial banks," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(6), pages 1464-1476, June.
    14. Shleifer, Andrei & Wolfenzon, Daniel, 2002. "Investor protection and equity markets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 3-27, October.
    15. Anaïs Hamelin-Schertzer, 2010. "Is there tunneling in Small Business Groups? Evidence from French SMEs," Working Papers CEB 10-003.RS, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    16. Siegel, Jordan, 2005. "Can foreign firms bond themselves effectively by renting U.S. securities laws?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(2), pages 319-359, February.
    17. Renée Adams & Daniel Ferreira, 2008. "One Share-One Vote: The Empirical Evidence," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 12(1), pages 51-91.
    18. 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.
    19. Nenova, Tatiana, 2003. "The value of corporate voting rights and control: A cross-country analysis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(3), pages 325-351, June.
    20. Imen Derouiche & Majdi Hassan & Sarra Amdouni, 2018. "Ownership structure and investment-cash flow sensitivity," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 22(1), pages 31-54, March.

    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:eme:cfripp:v:1:y:2011:i:2:p:152-167. 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: Emerald Support (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.