The relation between dividends and insider ownership in different legal systems: international evidence

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2009

Authors

Jorge Farinha (Author) FEP; Óscar López-de-Foronda (Author) Other

Journal

Title: European Journal of Finance

Vol. 15 No. 2

Pages: 169-189

ISSN: 1351-847X

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 20 Citations

Scopus - 28 Citations

Scientific classification

CORDIS: Social sciences

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-003-PWW

DOI: 10.1080/13518470802588718

Abstract (EN): This paper provides new international evidence on the relationship between dividend policy and insider ownership by analysing a sample of USA, UK and Irish firms characterized by an Anglo-Saxon tradition and a matching sample of other EU companies from Civil Law legal systems. We hypothesize that, due to the different characteristics of both the legal system and the nature of agency conflicts in firms from those countries, the relation between dividend policies and ownership by insiders will be considerably distinct between the two sets of companies. We find that while in firms with an Anglo-Saxon tradition the relation between dividends and insider ownership follows the pattern negative-positive-negative, in Civil Law countries the relation is positive-negative-positive. These results are consistent with our hypotheses and breed new insights into the role of the dividend policy as a disciplining mechanism in countries with different legal systems and distinct agency problems.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 21