Why Do Firms Pay Dividends?: Evidence from an Early and Unregulated Capital Market*
Why Do Firms Pay Dividends?: Evidence from an Early and Unregulated Capital Market*
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公司为何支付股息？：来自早期且不受监管的资本市场的证据*
DOI：
10.1093/rof/rfs048
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发表时间：
2013
影响因子：
4.4
通讯作者：
Turner J
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Turner J
Why do firms pay dividends? To answer this question, we use a hand-collected data set of companies traded on the London stock market between 1825 and 1870. As tax rates were effectively zero, the capital market was unregulated, and there were no institutional stockholders, we can rule out these potential determinants ex ante. We find that, even though they were legal, share repurchases were not used by firms to return cash to shareholders. Instead, our evidence provides support for the information–communication explanation for dividends, while providing little support for agency, illiquidity, catering, or behavioral explanations.
