Despite a documented decline in the number of dividend payers in the UK it is found that aggregate real dividends paid by industrials actually increased between 1979 and 2000. This was attributed to the firms lost from the sample being generally small distributors of dividends whilst the growth in payments by large firms more than compensated for the effect of the former. As a result a concentr...

Blockholder ownership may increase firm value because of incentive alignment or lower it because of expropriation of minority investors. Dividend policy provides a way to distinguish between the two effects since large owners may prefer low dividends if they derive private benefits from controlling firms, while minority investors may prefer high dividends that benefit all shareholders. I examin...

We show that a firm’s product characteristics are significantly related to its dividend and share repurchase policies. Using text-based analysis of product descriptions in firm 10-Ks, we examine how the propensity to pay dividends and repurchase shares are affected by how a firm’s products evolve over time, the local competition it faces, and the nature of the clientèle for the firm’s products....

China’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs) overseen by the central government’s StateOwned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) made net profits of RMB 299 billion during the first half of 2005 and RMB 400 billion in 2004. All nonfinancial SOEs, including those administered by provincial and municipal authorities, earned total profits of RMB 759 billion in 2003, representing 6.5...