IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/ormnsc/v64y2018i7p3108-3128.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Shareholder Protection and Agency Costs: An Experimental Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Jacob LaRiviere

    (Office of the Chief Economist, Microsoft, Redmond, Washington 98052, Department of Economics, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996)

  • Matthew McMahon

    (Department of Economics and Finance, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock, Arkansas 72204)

  • William Neilson

    (Department of Economics, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996)

Abstract

Two competing principal–agent models explain why firms pay dividends. The substitute model proposes that corporate insiders pay dividends to signal and build trust with outside shareholders who lack legal protection. The outcome model, in contrast, surmises that when shareholders have legal protection, they demand dividends from insiders to prevent them from expropriating corporate funds. Either way, dividends represent an agency cost paid to align the interests of shareholders and insiders. Expropriations by insiders and reduced investment by shareholders are also agency costs, but they are difficult to identify with archival data. Using a laboratory experiment, we identify the impact of strengthened shareholder protection on all three types of agency costs. Dividend payout ratios are five times larger with stronger investor protection, insider expropriation ratios are twice as high, and outsider investment falls by 45%. Thus, we find evidence that strengthening shareholder protection introduces previously unidentified agency costs into the insider–investor relationship.

Suggested Citation

  • Jacob LaRiviere & Matthew McMahon & William Neilson, 2018. "Shareholder Protection and Agency Costs: An Experimental Analysis," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(7), pages 3108-3128, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:64:y:2018:i:7:p:3108-3128
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2017.2770
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2017.2770
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/mnsc.2017.2770?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Eugene F. Fama & Kenneth R. French, 2001. "Disappearing Dividends: Changing Firm Characteristics Or Lower Propensity To Pay?," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 14(1), pages 67-79, March.
    2. 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.
    3. Thomas W. Bates & Kathleen M. Kahle & René M. Stulz, 2009. "Why Do U.S. Firms Hold So Much More Cash than They Used To?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(5), pages 1985-2021, October.
    4. Lunawat, Radhika, 2013. "An experimental investigation of reputation effects of disclosure in an investment/trust game," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 130-144.
    5. M. Levati & Jianying Qiu & Prashanth Mahagaonkar, 2012. "Testing the Modigliani-Miller theorem directly in the lab," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 15(4), pages 693-716, December.
    6. Greg Fischer, 2013. "Contract Structure, Risk‐Sharing, and Investment Choice," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 81(3), pages 883-939, May.
    7. Schniter, Eric & Sheremeta, Roman M. & Sznycer, Daniel, 2013. "Building and rebuilding trust with promises and apologies," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 242-256.
    8. Rietz, Thomas A. & Sheremeta, Roman M. & Shields, Timothy W. & Smith, Vernon L., 2013. "Transparency, efficiency and the distribution of economic welfare in pass-through investment trust games," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 257-267.
    9. Gustavo Grullon & Roni Michaely, 2002. "Dividends, Share Repurchases, and the Substitution Hypothesis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(4), pages 1649-1684, August.
    10. Paul A. Gompers & Joy Ishii & Andrew Metrick, 2010. "Extreme Governance: An Analysis of Dual-Class Firms in the United States," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(3), pages 1051-1088, March.
    11. Ann B. Gillette & Thomas H. Noe & Michael J. Rebello, 2008. "Board Structures Around the World: an Experimental Investigation," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 12(1), pages 93-140.
    12. Johnson, Noel D. & Mislin, Alexandra A., 2011. "Trust games: A meta-analysis," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 32(5), pages 865-889.
    13. McKelvey, Richard D & Palfrey, Thomas R, 1992. "An Experimental Study of the Centipede Game," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 60(4), pages 803-836, July.
    14. 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.
    15. Ann B. Gillette & Thomas H. Noe & Michael J. Rebello, 2008. "Board structures around the world: An experimental investigation," Economics Series Working Papers 2008fe15, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    16. 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.
    17. Erica Field & Rohini Pande & John Papp & Natalia Rigol, 2013. "Does the Classic Microfinance Model Discourage Entrepreneurship among the Poor? Experimental Evidence from India," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(6), pages 2196-2226, October.
    18. Hoffman, Elizabeth & McCabe, Kevin & Smith, Vernon L, 1996. "Social Distance and Other-Regarding Behavior in Dictator Games," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(3), pages 653-660, June.
    19. Bae, Kee-Hong & Baek, Jae-Seung & Kang, Jun-Koo & Liu, Wei-Lin, 2012. "Do controlling shareholders' expropriation incentives imply a link between corporate governance and firm value? Theory and evidence," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(2), pages 412-435.
    20. Ann B. Gillette & Thomas H. Noe & Michael J. Rebello, 2003. "Corporate Board Composition, Protocols, and Voting Behavior: Experimental Evidence," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(5), pages 1997-2031, October.
    21. Urs Fischbacher, 2007. "z-Tree: Zurich toolbox for ready-made economic experiments," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 10(2), pages 171-178, June.
    22. Denis, David J. & Osobov, Igor, 2008. "Why do firms pay dividends? International evidence on the determinants of dividend policy," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(1), pages 62-82, July.
    23. Ernst Fehr & Bettina Rockenbach, 2003. "Detrimental effects of sanctions on human altruism," Nature, Nature, vol. 422(6928), pages 137-140, March.
    24. Jiang, Guohua & Lee, Charles M.C. & Yue, Heng, 2010. "Tunneling through intercorporate loans: The China experience," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(1), pages 1-20, October.
    25. Breuer, Wolfgang & Rieger, M. Oliver & Soypak, K. Can, 2014. "The behavioral foundations of corporate dividend policy a cross-country analysis," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 247-265.
    26. Brandts, Jordi & Figueras, Neus, 2003. "An exploration of reputation formation in experimental games," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 89-115, January.
    27. Art Durnev & E. Han Kim, 2005. "To Steal or Not to Steal: Firm Attributes, Legal Environment, and Valuation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(3), pages 1461-1493, June.
    28. Jordan, Bradford D. & Liu, Mark H. & Wu, Qun, 2014. "Corporate payout policy in dual-class firms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 1-19.
    29. Berg Joyce & Dickhaut John & McCabe Kevin, 1995. "Trust, Reciprocity, and Social History," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 122-142, July.
    30. Fischer, Gregory, 2013. "Contract structure, risk sharing and investment choice," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 46796, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    31. Nti, Kofi O, 1999. "Rent-Seeking with Asymmetric Valuations," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 98(3-4), pages 415-430, March.
    32. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    33. Stephen Knack & Philip Keefer, 1995. "Institutions And Economic Performance: Cross‐Country Tests Using Alternative Institutional Measures," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 7(3), pages 207-227, November.
    34. Berkman, Henk & Cole, Rebel A. & Fu, Lawrence J., 2009. "Expropriation through loan guarantees to related parties: Evidence from China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 141-156, January.
    35. Lunawat, Radhika, 2016. "Reputation effects of information sharing," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 131(PA), pages 75-91.
    36. Knack, Stephen & Keefer, Philip, 1995. "Institutions and Economic Performance: Cross-Country Tests Using Alternative Institutional Indicators," MPRA Paper 23118, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    37. repec:bla:jfinan:v:58:y:2003:i:5:p:1997-2032 is not listed on IDEAS
    38. DeAngelo, Harry & DeAngelo, Linda & Skinner, Douglas J., 2004. "Are dividends disappearing? Dividend concentration and the consolidation of earnings," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(3), pages 425-456, June.
    39. Camerer, Colin & Weigelt, Keith, 1988. "Experimental Tests of a Sequential Equilibrium Reputation Model," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 56(1), pages 1-36, January.
    40. Steven D. Levitt & John A. List & Sally E. Sadoff, 2011. "Checkmate: Exploring Backward Induction among Chess Players," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(2), pages 975-990, April.
    41. Rosenthal, Robert W., 1981. "Games of perfect information, predatory pricing and the chain-store paradox," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 92-100, August.
    42. Greiner, Ben, 2004. "An Online Recruitment System for Economic Experiments," MPRA Paper 13513, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    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. Lesmeister, Simon & Limbach, Peter & Goergen, Marc, 2022. "Trust and monitoring," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    2. Jia, Z. Tingting & McMahon, Matthew J., 2020. "Being watched in an investment game setting: Behavioral changes when making risky decisions," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    3. Jia, Zi Tingting & McMahon, Matthew J., 2019. "Dividend payments and excess cash: an experimental analysis," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    4. Li, Jianjun & Wu, Zhouyi & Yu, Kaijia & Zhao, Wei, 2024. "The effect of industrial robot adoption on firm value: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 60(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. Hussein Abedi Shamsabadi & Byung-Seong Min & Richard Chung, 2016. "Corporate governance and dividend strategy: lessons from Australia," International Journal of Managerial Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 12(5), pages 583-610, October.
    2. Jia, Zi Tingting & McMahon, Matthew J., 2019. "Dividend payments and excess cash: an experimental analysis," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    3. Schmid, Thomas & Ampenberger, Markus & Kaserer, Christoph & Achleitner, Ann-Kristin, 2010. "Controlling shareholders and payout policy: do founding families have a special 'taste for dividends'?," CEFS Working Paper Series 2010-01, Technische Universität München (TUM), Center for Entrepreneurial and Financial Studies (CEFS).
    4. He, Wen & Ng, Lilian & Zaiats, Nataliya & Zhang, Bohui, 2017. "Dividend policy and earnings management across countries," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 267-286.
    5. Johnsen, Åshild A. & Kvaløy, Ola, 2016. "Does strategic kindness crowd out prosocial behavior?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 132(PA), pages 1-11.
    6. Liu, Hang & Luo, Jin-hui & Wang, Xin, 2021. "Do controlling shareholders expropriate employees? Evidence from workplace fatalities in China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    7. Yasuharu Aoki, 2014. "How Does the Largest Shareholder Affect Dividends?," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 14(4), pages 613-645, December.
    8. Chowdhury, Rajib & Doukas, John A., 2022. "Protection of trade secrets and value of cash holdings: Evidence from a natural experiment," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    9. Zhe An & Wenlian Gao & Donghui Li & Dezhu Ye, 2022. "Dividend payouts, cash‐flow uncertainty and the role of institutions," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(7-8), pages 1356-1390, July.
    10. Andriosopoulos, Dimitris & Hoque, Hafiz, 2013. "The determinants of share repurchases in Europe," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 65-76.
    11. Amy Dittmar, 2008. "Corporate Cash Policy and How to Manage it with Stock Repurchases," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 20(3), pages 22-34, June.
    12. Kathleen Kahle & René M. Stulz, 2020. "Why Are Corporate Payouts So High in the 2000s?," NBER Working Papers 26958, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. L. Ruzhanskaya & S. Lukyanov., 2010. "Dividend Policy of Russian Companies and the Investors’ Interests," VOPROSY ECONOMIKI, N.P. Redaktsiya zhurnala "Voprosy Economiki", vol. 3.
    14. Ye, Dezhu & Deng, Jie & Liu, Yi & Szewczyk, Samuel H. & Chen, Xiao, 2019. "Does board gender diversity increase dividend payouts? Analysis of global evidence," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 1-26.
    15. Muhammad Nurul Houqe & Reza M. Monem & Tony van Zijl, 2023. "Business strategy, cash holdings, and dividend payouts," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(4), pages 3999-4035, December.
    16. Renneboog, Luc & Trojanowski, Grzegorz, 2011. "Patterns in payout policy and payout channel choice," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(6), pages 1477-1490, June.
    17. Luzi Hail & Ahmed Tahoun & Clare Wang, 2014. "Dividend Payouts and Information Shocks," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(2), pages 403-456, May.
    18. Janas, Moritz & Oljemark, Emilia, 2020. "Trust and Reputation under Asymmetric Information," VfS Annual Conference 2020 (Virtual Conference): Gender Economics 224518, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    19. Chou, Robin K. & Wang, Yu-Chun & Jimmy Yang, J., 2021. "Share pledging, payout policy, and the value of cash holdings," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 18-33.
    20. Janas, Moritz & Oljemark, Emilia, 2021. "Trust and reputation under asymmetric information," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 185(C), pages 97-124.

    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:inm:ormnsc:v:64:y:2018:i:7:p:3108-3128. 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: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    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.