Disappearing dividends: changing firm characteristics or lower propensity to pay?

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Fama, EF; French, KR
• 署名单位: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); University of Chicago
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF FINANCIAL ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-405X
• DOI: 10.1016/S0304-405X(01)00038-1
• 发表日期: 2001
• 页码: 3-43
• 关键词: dividends; payout policy; STOCK REPURCHASES; New listings

摘要

The proportion of fir ms paying cash dividends falls from 66.5% in 1978 to 20.8% in 1999, due in part to the changing characteristics of publicly traded firms. Fed by new listings, the population of publicly traded firms tilts increasingly toward small firms with low profitability and strong growth opportunities - characteristics typical of firms that have never paid dividends. More interesting, we also show that regardless of their characteristics, firms have become less likely to pay dividends. This lower propensity to pay is at least as important as changing characteristics in the declining incidence of dividend-paying firms. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science S.A.