Based on the trend of dividend payout ratio from 1986 to 2004 in Taiwan, it appears the companies have experienced two different stages of cash dividend policies. Before 1997, the cash dividend payout ratio declines slowly. But starting 1998, the payout ratio raises substantially, and the sum of cash dividend appears the same trend. Investigate the companies that pay cash dividend out, discover that they concentrate on those make a earning, and focus on those have high profit year by year. The sample is selected from listed companies in Taiwan Stock Market from 1988 to 2004 , not including financial and utility companies. This thesis uses binary logistic regression to test the relationship between company¡¦s characteristics and paying cash dividend, and survey whether this characteristics are the reason to make the cash dividend payout ratio raises quickly. The result of this research found that there is positive relationship between the payout of cash dividend, the company size, profitable ability, and free cash flow ratio. Moreover, there is negative relationship between the payout of cash dividend, growing opportunity, and liability ratio. But among the two variables measuring the growing opportunity, the asset growing ratio has a better interpretation in the earlier stage; and the market-to-book ratio does in the later stage. On the base period of 1988 to 1997, use binary logistic regression and portfolios to set up a model to fit the cash dividend policies. The overall empirical evidence implies the company¡¦s characteristic don¡¦t change the companies¡¦ tendency of paying cash dividend. In other words, the phenomenon of cash dividend payout ratio raising actually is caused by the increasing fundamental tendency of the sample companies paying cash dividend.

The dividend payout policy is a very debated topic, in this thesis the differences between Sweden and Vietnam will be examined. By examine two different countries with more or less the same landmass, but regarding economic, culture and politics they differ highly.   The purpose of this study was to determine whether there were a difference between the countries in dividend payout ratios, to see if the countries payout a high or a low dividend during the years 2005 to 2012. The second purpose was to examine if there was a significant differences in the movements in the markets. The third purpose was to examine how the two countries acted during the financial crisis, if the dividend payout ratio changed. This may tell how the policies in the two countries differ and how long term or short term the firms within the countries were planning and which kind of investors they are attracting. The data being used is collected historical data from firms with in each of the countries. The thesis follows a quantitative research method based on a deductive and an inductive approach. The research design is comparative for examination of two the countries data samples and for the purposes descriptive and explanatory studies have been done. In order to determine whether there is a relationship between the countries dividend payout ratio, the normality of the data sample have been examined, showing that the data were not normal distributed. Therefor the data were examined with a Mann- Whitney test and by a Kruskal- Wallis test.   The result indicates that there is a difference between the countries in dividend payout ratios in the case of Vietnam and Sweden under the years 2005 to 2012. Comparing countries together between the years to determine possible differences, the dividend payout ratio was insignificant in 2005 to 2008, but significant in the years 2009 to 2012. The examination of Vietnam and Sweden separately with years as factors the dividend payouts in Vietnam showed a significant difference but an insignificant result in Sweden during the year 2005 to 2008. Further, the results showed that there is a difference between the years in Sweden between 2009 to 2012 but no differences in Vietnam under the same years.

This study investigates the relationship between corporate sustainability and dividend policy in the Nordic countries. In the field of finance, the importance of corporate sustainability is growing, particularly in the Nordic countries, which excel in global sustainability rankings. In response to this occurrence many firms are increasingly incorporating sustainability into their operations, which in turn might affect the strategic decisions of these firms. One of these is the dividend policy decision. Dividend policy in the form of cash dividends is a central concept in finance and is affected by conservation of capital and time value of money. The purpose of this study is to clarify the relationship between sustainability and dividend policy, which the authors have done by including different theoretical arguments. These are grounded in the agency theory, the signaling theory and the stakeholder theory. Previous research such as Benlemlih (2019) has examined the relationship between sustainability and dividends, but not in the same regional setting. ESG is used as a proxy for sustainability, while two proxies are used for dividend policy; dividend payout ratio and dividend yield. Through a quantitative approach information is collected on the ESG score and dividend data using the Thomson Reuters Eikon database and then analyzed using regression analysis. The data spans over 10 years (2008-2018) and covers 117 firms with available ESG and dividend payout data.  The findings indicate that there is a significant relationship between the ESG score and the dividend payout ratio of Nordic firms, while the dividend yield has no relationship with the ESG score. As both measurements had positive coefficients, the authors determined that there is a positive relationship between sustainability and dividend policy. Based on the findings, the excess liquidity hypothesis was dismissed, while the authors concluded that there was support for and against the overinvesting hypothesis and the signaling hypothesis. The authors believe one possible explanation for these mixed results could be due to the regional setting, as it differs from the settings of previous studies. By illustrating the relationship between corporate sustainability and dividend policy, this study could be of interest to large and medium sized firms in the Nordic countries that use business strategies involving ESG practices or consider implementing such strategies. Similarly, it could be used by investors that use ESG-screening as a decision criterion when investing.

The dividend payout policy is one of the most debated topics within corporate finance and some academics have called the company’s dividend payout policy an unsolved puzzle. Even though an extensive amount of research regarding dividends has been conducted, there is no uniform answer to the question: what are the determinants of the companies’ dividend payout ratios? We therefore decided to conduct a study regarding the determinants of the companies’ dividend payout ratios on large and medium cap on Stockholm stock exchange. The purpose of the study is to determine if there is a relationship between a number of company selected factors and the companies’ dividend payout ratios. A second purpose is to determine whether there are any differences between large and medium caps regarding the impact of the company selected factors. We therefore reviewed previous studies and dividend theories in order to conclude which factors that potentially could have an impact on the companies’ dividend payout ratios. Based on the literature, we decided to test the relationship between the dividend payout ratio and six company selected factors: free cash flow, growth, leverage, profit, risk and size. The data used in the research are secondary data collected during a time period of five years, between 2006 and 2010. The study follows a quantitative research method with a deductive approach and we have based the study on four dividend theories: the dividend irrelevance theory, the bird in hand theory, the signaling theory and the agency theory. In order to determine whether there is a relationship between the companies selected factors and the dividend payout ratio we conducted both an Ordinary least square (OLS) and a Tobit regression. Multicollinearity tests were also conducted in order to ascertain that no multicollinearity affected the results of the study. The results indicate that some of the company selected factors have an impact on the companies’ dividend payout ratios and there are some differences between large and medium caps. The dividend payout ratios of large caps have a significant relationship to free cash flow, growth and risk. While the dividend payout ratios of medium caps have a significant relationship to free cash flow, leverage, risk and size.

This paper investigates the determinants of excess returns using dividend yields as a proxy in a cross-sectional setting. First, we find that types of industry and the current business cycle are determining factors of returns. Second, our results suggest that dividend yield serves a signaling mechanism indicating “healthiness” of a firm among prospective investors. Third we see that there is a positive relationship between dividend yield and risk, especially in the utility and financial sectors. And finally, using actual excess returns, instead of dividend yield in our model shows that all predictors of dividend yield were also significant predictors of excess returns. This connection between dividend yield and excess returns support our use of dividend yield as a proxy for excess returns.

Föreliggande uppsats avser bidra till att fylla gapet till den svenska forskningen om utdelningspolitiken för familjeföretag i Sverige. Studier om utdelningspolitik i familjeföretag och vilka faktorer som påverkar den är förhållandevis marginell. Studien analyserar familjeföretag listade på OMX Stockholm under tidsperioden 2005-2018. Ett urval om 25 företag har inkluderats i studien och bortfallen summeras till 11 företag.   Ett av studiens t-test fördelade familjeföretagen i två grupper, de som ägde över och under 50 procent av de röstberättigade aktierna. t-testet undersöker hypotes 1. Resultatet visar att det inte är statistiskt säkerställt att majoritetsägande påverkar utdelningsnivån. Hypotes 2 undersöks genom ett t-est. Vid genomförandet av t-testet utformades subgrupper till de två ovannämnda grupperna. Subgrupperna ställdes mot varandra för att undersöka en skillnad i utdelningsnivå. Hypotes 1 och 2 accepterades för båda t-testen som undersöktes med en signifikansnivå på 5 procent. Utöver t-testen har det genomförts en multivariat analys. Med hjälp av den multivariata analysen identifierades ett negativt samband mellan ägarkoncentration och utdelningsnivå, samt ett positivt samband mellan lönsamhet och utdelningsnivå. / This paper seeks to fill the gap in Swedish research about dividend policy. Studies about which key numbers that affect the dividend policy in family firms are marginal. The study involves family firms listed on OMX Stockholm between 2005 til 2018.   One of the studies t-tests examine families that have majority positions and minority positions. The result is not statistical reliable. Therefore the t-test cannot show a difference in the average dividend payout ratio with a significance level at 5 percent. A Multivariate analysis has been made. It shows a negative correlation between ownership and dividend payout ratio. The variables profit and dividend payout ratio has a positive correlation.

本篇論文主要探討股利支付率與未來獲利能力成長的關聯性。過去相關文獻專注在股利變化率與未來盈餘成長的關係，股利支付率的文獻則較少。本研究以1991至2016年台灣上市、上櫃公司為樣本，利用固定效果模型來進行分析，實證結果發現股利支付率與未來獲利能力成長的關係呈顯著正相關。本研究根據文獻在迴歸模型中加入成長機會代理變數來檢驗股利支付率與未來獲利能力成長的正向關係是否能以自由現金流量假說解釋，實證結果與文獻一致，說明當成長機會愈低，台灣上市櫃公司之股利支付率與未來獲利能力成長之關聯性愈強，透過將剩餘的自由現金流量以股利發放的形式返還予股東，能減少公司之代理成本，市場上的投資機會未受到市場的競爭而使報酬率高於預期，因此出現公司股利支付率愈高，未來獲利能力成長愈高的現象。 / This study examines the relationship between dividend payout ratio and the growth of future profitability. Previous literatures mainly focused on the relationship between dividend change rate and future earnings growth instead of dividend payout ratio. The sample of this study includes companies listed on Taiwan Stock Exchange and the OTC market from 1991 to 2016. Results of the fixed effect model shows that there is a significantly positive relationship between dividend payout ratio and the growth of future profitability. Proxy variables for growth opportunities are used in the　fixed effect model to further verify whether the positive relationship can be explained by free cash flow theory. Our results support the explanation, indicating that the positive relationship between dividend payout ratio and the growth of future profitability is stronger when growth opportunities are low. Companies can reduce agency costs by paying out dividends to shareholders, and the returns of investment opportunities on the market are unaffected by competition force, which results in the counter-intuitive phenomenon of higher dividend payout ratio and subsequent growth of future profitability.

The goal of this diploma thesis is to analyze P/S ratio using Gordon dividend discount model and also to prove hypothesis that assumes existing influence of margin, dividend payout ratio, future dividend growth and discount rate on P/S ratio value. The goal is also to find other factors that can influence relative market stock valuation. Multidimensional regression analysis and also factor analysis were used in order to get a proper knowledge of the factors. There are 781 stocks used in this work. This thesis proves influence of the mentioned variables and also other variables were found that help achieve deeper understanding of examined variable. Market valuation is a very complex matter and is influenced by numerous factors.

Bhattacharyya（2007）建立一個連結企業管理階層薪酬與現金股利的模型。該模型指出在既定的可用現金下，企業管理階層薪酬與現金股利支付率呈負相關。本研究參考上述模型，以2005年至2008年國內上市櫃公司資料為樣本，使用Tobit模型檢視樣本公司高階經理人薪酬、董監事薪酬與現金股利支付率之關聯性。本研究實證結果符合上述模型之推論，亦即高階經理人總薪酬與公司之現金股利支付率呈顯著負相關。 　　本研究另將高階經理人薪酬區分為現金薪酬與股票薪酬，進行額外的分析，其結果顯示高階經理人之股票薪酬與公司現金股利支付率呈顯著負相關。換言之，台灣上市櫃公司（尤其高科技產業）常使用之股票薪酬合約，其性質具有長期激勵之效果。在公司既定的可用現金下，此種合約不但可激勵高品質的高階經理人選擇淨現值為正的投資方案，且可確保經理人不因短期投資方案而犧牲公司的長期利益。 / Bhattacharyya (2007) proposed a dividend payout model in which executive compensation is associated with the level of cash dividends. The model shows that for a given level of cash available for distribution, there is a negative　relationship between a company’s dividend payout ratio and its managerial compensation. This study applies the above model to a sample of the listed companies at the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE) and the Gre Tai Securities Market (GTSM) from 2005 to 2008. The Tobit regression results are consistent with the Bhattacharyya (2007) model’s prediction, i.e., the dividend payout ratios of sample firms have negative associations with their managerial compensations. 　　In addition, this study classifies executive compensation into cash and stock payments for further analyses. The results show that dividend payout ratio is negatively correlated only with the stock portion of executive compensation. It means that for a given level of available cash for distribution, the nature of stock compensation has the long term effects which not only encourage a company’s executives to invest more in the projects with positive NPV without sacrificing the company’s benefits, bus also leave less cash for　distribution as dividends.

For many financial analysts the relationship between dividend policy and share price volatility remains inconclusive. The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether the relationship between dividend policy and share price volatility for JSE-listed firms in South Africa differs from previous, similar research done on different markets. The research study answered the research question and determined what the relationship is between dividend policy and share price volatility for a representative sample of JSE-listed firms. In addition, it met the objective of finding and evaluating the relationship between dividend policy and share price volatility for a selection of JSElisted firms, under various economic conditions. The research study spanned a 12- year period with more than 1 065 observations noted. Quantitative, secondary data was collected and descriptive statistics were used during the analysis phase. Two standard multiple regression models were used to regress dividend policy and share price volatility, with the first regression model only providing a crude test between the variables. The second regression model accounted for factors that affect both variables and was included to provide a more accurate test estimation. The relationship between the dividend payout ratio and share price volatility and the relationship between dividend yield and share price volatility were evaluated and reported on, under various different economic conditions (pre, during and post the 2008 financial crisis). The study concluded that there is a negative correlation between a firm’s dividend policy and share price volatility. It further found that a firm’s dividend payout ratio, and not the dividend yield ratio, remains the single biggest contributor in explaining the variance in share price volatility throughout the different economic phases presented by pre, during and post the 2008 global financial crisis. / Finance, Risk Management and Banking / M. Com. (Financial Management)