The role of cross-listing, foreign ownership and state ownership in dividend policy in an emerging market
In this paper, we investigate if dividend policy is influenced by ownership type. Within the dividend literature, dividends have a signaling role regarding agency costs, such that dividends may diminish insider conflicts (reduce free cash flow) or may be used to extract cash from firms (tunneling ef...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2012-09-01
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| Series: | China Journal of Accounting Research |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1755309112000202 |
| _version_ | 1818157684996702208 |
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| author | Kevin C.K. Lam Heibatollah Sami Haiyan Zhou |
| author_facet | Kevin C.K. Lam Heibatollah Sami Haiyan Zhou |
| author_sort | Kevin C.K. Lam |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this paper, we investigate if dividend policy is influenced by ownership type. Within the dividend literature, dividends have a signaling role regarding agency costs, such that dividends may diminish insider conflicts (reduce free cash flow) or may be used to extract cash from firms (tunneling effect) – which could be predominant in emerging markets. We expect firms with foreign ownership and those that are listed in overseas markets to have different dividend policies and practices than those that are not, and firms with more state ownership and less individual ownership to be more likely to pay cash dividends and less likely to pay stock dividends. Using firms from an emerging economy (China), we examine whether these effects exist in corporate dividend policy and practice. We find that both foreign ownership and cross-listing have significant negative effects on cash dividends, consistent with the signaling effect and the notion of reduced tunneling activities for firms with the ability to raise capital from outside of China. Consistent with the tunneling effect, we find that firms with higher state ownership tend to pay higher cash dividends and lower stock dividends, while the opposite is true for public (individual) ownership. Further analysis shows that foreign ownership mediates the effect of state ownership on dividend policy. Our results have significant implications for researchers, investors, policy makers and regulators in emerging markets. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T15:18:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4f63429a5b634e2a98785f16c795d0fd |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1755-3091 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T15:18:07Z |
| publishDate | 2012-09-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | China Journal of Accounting Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-4f63429a5b634e2a98785f16c795d0fd2022-12-22T01:00:29ZengElsevierChina Journal of Accounting Research1755-30912012-09-015319921610.1016/j.cjar.2012.06.001The role of cross-listing, foreign ownership and state ownership in dividend policy in an emerging marketKevin C.K. Lam0Heibatollah Sami1Haiyan Zhou2School of Accountancy, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong KongDepartment of Accounting, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA 18015, USADepartment of Accounting and Business Law, College of Business Administration, The University of Texas - Pan American, USAIn this paper, we investigate if dividend policy is influenced by ownership type. Within the dividend literature, dividends have a signaling role regarding agency costs, such that dividends may diminish insider conflicts (reduce free cash flow) or may be used to extract cash from firms (tunneling effect) – which could be predominant in emerging markets. We expect firms with foreign ownership and those that are listed in overseas markets to have different dividend policies and practices than those that are not, and firms with more state ownership and less individual ownership to be more likely to pay cash dividends and less likely to pay stock dividends. Using firms from an emerging economy (China), we examine whether these effects exist in corporate dividend policy and practice. We find that both foreign ownership and cross-listing have significant negative effects on cash dividends, consistent with the signaling effect and the notion of reduced tunneling activities for firms with the ability to raise capital from outside of China. Consistent with the tunneling effect, we find that firms with higher state ownership tend to pay higher cash dividends and lower stock dividends, while the opposite is true for public (individual) ownership. Further analysis shows that foreign ownership mediates the effect of state ownership on dividend policy. Our results have significant implications for researchers, investors, policy makers and regulators in emerging markets.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1755309112000202Agency problemsCorporate governanceCash dividendsStock dividendsOwnership structureCross listingsEmerging markets |
| spellingShingle | Kevin C.K. Lam Heibatollah Sami Haiyan Zhou The role of cross-listing, foreign ownership and state ownership in dividend policy in an emerging market China Journal of Accounting Research Agency problems Corporate governance Cash dividends Stock dividends Ownership structure Cross listings Emerging markets |
| title | The role of cross-listing, foreign ownership and state ownership in dividend policy in an emerging market |
| title_full | The role of cross-listing, foreign ownership and state ownership in dividend policy in an emerging market |
| title_fullStr | The role of cross-listing, foreign ownership and state ownership in dividend policy in an emerging market |
| title_full_unstemmed | The role of cross-listing, foreign ownership and state ownership in dividend policy in an emerging market |
| title_short | The role of cross-listing, foreign ownership and state ownership in dividend policy in an emerging market |
| title_sort | role of cross listing foreign ownership and state ownership in dividend policy in an emerging market |
| topic | Agency problems Corporate governance Cash dividends Stock dividends Ownership structure Cross listings Emerging markets |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1755309112000202 |
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