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The Dividend Policy of German Firms

Author

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  • Andres, C.
  • Betzer, A.
  • Goergen, M.
  • Renneboog, L.D.R.

    (Tilburg University, Center For Economic Research)

Abstract

German firms pay out a lower proportion of their cash flows than UK and US firms.However, on a published profits basis, the pattern is reversed.Company law provisions and accounting policies account for these conflicting results.A partial adjustment model is used to estimate the implicit target payout ratio and the speed of adjustment of dividends towards a long run target payout ratio. We find that German firms do not base their dividend decisions on published earnings, but on cash flows.The reasons for the use of a cash flow-based payout policy are: (i) published earnings figures do not correctly reflect corporate performance as German firms tend to retain a significant part of their earnings to build up legal reserves, (ii) the conservative nature of German accounting policies, (iii) published earnings are subject to a higher degree of smoothing than cash flows.Regarding the speed of adjustment of dividends towards the long term target payout ratio, UK and US companies only slowly adjust their dividend policy whereas German are more willing to cut the dividend in the wake of a temporary decrease in profitability.This causes a higher degree of 'discreteness' in the dividends-pershare time series as opposed to the 'smoothness' (i.e., frequent annual small adjustments in the dividend per share) observed in the US and the UK.
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Suggested Citation

  • Andres, C. & Betzer, A. & Goergen, M. & Renneboog, L.D.R., 2008. "The Dividend Policy of German Firms," Discussion Paper 2008-67, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:tiu:tiucen:e7c96e08-3c29-4f98-8719-f4bee3ed34d3
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Renneboog, Luc & Szilagyi, Peter G., 2020. "How relevant is dividend policy under low shareholder protection?," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    3. Andres, Christian & Fernau, Erik & Theissen, Erik, 2012. "Is it better to say goodbye? When former executives set executive pay," CFR Working Papers 12-02, University of Cologne, Centre for Financial Research (CFR).
    4. Al-Malkawi, Husam-Aldin Nizar & Bhatti, M. Ishaq & Magableh, Sohail I., 2014. "On the dividend smoothing, signaling and the global financial crisis," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 159-165.
    5. 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).
    6. Abdou, Hussein A. & Pointon, John & El-Masry, Ahmed & Olugbode, Moji & Lister, Roger J., 2012. "A variable impact neural network analysis of dividend policies and share prices of transportation and related companies," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 796-813.
    7. Fernau, Erik & Hirsch, Stefan, 2019. "What drives dividend smoothing? A meta regression analysis of the Lintner model," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 255-273.
    8. Szilagyi, P.G., 2007. "Corporate governance and the agency costs of debt and outside equity," Other publications TiSEM 9520d40a-224f-43a8-9bf9-b, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Dividend policy; payout policy; target payout ratio; Lintner dividend model; dividend smoothing; partial adjustment model; corporate governance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • 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

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