Disappearing and reappearing dividends

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Michaely, Roni; Moin, Amani
• 署名单位: University of Hong Kong
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF FINANCIAL ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-405X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jfineco.2021.06.029
• 发表日期: 2022
• 页码: 207-226
• 关键词: dividends; payout policy; STOCK REPURCHASES

摘要

We decompose the decrease (1970s-20 0 0) and subsequent recovery (20 0 0-2018) in the fraction of dividend-paying firms. Changes in firm characteristics and proclivity to pay (probability of paying dividends conditional on characteristics) each drive half of the dividend disappearance. A higher proclivity drives 82% of the dividend reappearance. The remaining 18% is driven by a single characteristic: reduced earnings volatility. Changing characteristics are associated with low-profitability, high-earnings-volatility firms. Changing proclivity is associated with stable, profitable firms. Rather than dividend initiations or omissions, newly listed and delisted firms drive trends. Finally, the magnitude and duration of disappearing total payout is substantially smaller than that of dividends, indicating some substitution between dividends and repurchases. (c) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.