Made available in DSpace on 2010-04-20T20:08:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 71060100672.pdf: 991061 bytes, checksum: d5b6d799f4240e554496280b112e4007 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-02-26T00:00:00Z / In December 2000, Bovespa created a list differentiating companies that voluntarily accepted corporate governance practices in addition to those required by the CVM. The purpose of the innovation was to develop the relationship between companies and their investors, reducing the asymmetry of information, giving greater certainty to investors and thereby encouraging the funds invested in capital market. This study assessed the initiative made by Bovespa, therefore was applied several statistical and econometric tests, that differentiate company as a governance policy adopted. The database has a total of 326 companies that were analyzed from 1996 to 2008. The tests indicate the existence of a clear relation between the governance and the asymmetry of information. Companies that belong to the markets with more restrictive governance policies (New Market, Level 2 and Level 1) have fewer information asymmetries. The results show the formation of a market with different characteristics to the traditional Bovespa. The companies that suffer major restrictions configure a more secure institutional environment. Therefore, the initiative of Bovespa to differentiate the market according to the degree of governance brought positive contributions to the improvement of access to information, which means a safer market for shareholders. / Em dezembro de 2000, a Bovespa criou uma listagem diferenciando as empresas que voluntariamente aceitassem práticas de governança corporativas adicionais àquelas exigidas pela CVM. A finalidade da inovação era estreitar a relação entre as empresas e seus investidores, diminuindo a assimetria informacional, dando maior segurança ao investidor e, dessa forma, fomentando os recursos aplicados no mercado de capital. Este trabalho procura avaliar a iniciativa feita pela Bovespa, para tanto foram aplicados vários testes estatísticos e econométricos, que diferenciaram as empresas enquanto a política de governança adotada. O banco de dados possui um total de 326 empresas que foram analisadas no período de 1996 à 2008. Os resultados apontam a existência de uma relação clara entre a governança corporativa e a assimetria de informação. Companhias que adotam políticas de governança mais restritivas (Novo Mercado, Nível 2 e Nível 1) possuem menos assimetrias de informação. Os resultados apontam para a constituição de um mercado com características distintas do tradicional da Bovespa. As companhias que sofrem maiores restrições configuram um ambiente institucional mais seguro, donde se conclui que a iniciativa da Bovespa em diferenciar o mercado conforme o grau de governança trouxe contribuições positivas para a melhora do acesso à informação, que se traduz em um mercado mais seguro para o acionista.

Die studie ondersoek die inligtingswaarde van dividende as 'n moontlike verldaring van die waargenome aandeleprysreaksie op dividendaankondigings. Twee algemene hipoteses is getoets, naamlik dat 'n betekenisvolle verandering in 'n maatskappy se dividendbeleid inligting oor daardie maatskappy se toekomstige verdienste per aandeel bevat, en tweedens dat hierdie inligting in die reaksie van aandelepryse na die aankondiging van die verandering gereflekteer word. Die belangrikste bevindinge is soos volg: • Die inligting vervat in huidige dividendaankondigings kan nie deur beleggers gebruik word om die volgende jaar se verdienste per aandeel van 'n maatskappy te voorspel nie. Die aandeleprysreaksie op positiewe, negatiewe en neutrale nuus is statisties beduidend, maar vind hoofsaaklik in dieselfde rigting plaas. Beleggers sou dus nie die inligting vervat in dividendaankondigings kan gebruik om bogemiddelde opbrengskoerse te genereer nie. • Die inligtingswaarde van dividende is dus 'n onwaarskynlike verldaring van die invloed van 'n maatskappy se dividendbeleid op die waarde van sy gewone aandele. / This research investigates the information content of dividends as a possible explanation for the observed share price reaction to dividend announcements. Two hypotheses were tested, namely that a significant change in a company's dividend policy contains information on that company's future earnings per share, and secondly, that this information is reflected in the share price reaction after the announcement of the change. The most important findings are as follows: • Investors cannot use the information contained in current dividend announcements to predict a company's earnings per share for the next year. • Share price reactions to positive, negative and neutral news are statistically significant, but will be in the same direction. Hence investors cannot use this information to generate above-normal returns. The information content of dividends is therefore an unlikely explanation of the influence a company's dividend policy has on the value of its ordinary shares. / Business Management / MCom (Sakebestuur)

Segundo a teoria da firma, uma empresa é um nexo de relações contratuais entre os seus diversos participantes. Nessas relações contratuais, que não são perfeitas, surgem os problemas de agência, decorridos da assimetria informacional e dos conflitos de interesses entre o contratado e o contratante, no caso, agente e principal. Neste caso, quando se tem a intenção de alinhar os interesses entre eles, aparece a governança corporativa, atuando como um meio de minimizar os conflitos e diferenças existentes e corrigir as falhas presentes no processo de comunicação e informação das firmas. No Brasil, diante da fraca proteção legal aos acionistas minoritários, da alta concentração de propriedade nas empresas e da separação dos acionistas entre ordinários e preferenciais, algumas medidas institucionais e governamentais têm sido tomadas ao longo dos anos com o objetivo de contribuir com a evolução das práticas de governança corporativa no país. Uma dessas iniciativas foi a criação em 2000 do segmento Novo Mercado pela Bovespa, composto por regras e exigências crescentes em relação às boas práticas de governança. Nesse sentido, é coerente pensar que a política de dividendos, antes influenciada pela necessidade de atuar também como instrumento de redução de conflitos entre os acionistas, passou a ser decidida a partir de um foco preponderantemente gerencial pelas companhias deste segmento, ou seja, tomada do ponto de vista financeiro de maximização da riqueza dos acionistas. Para testar esta suposição, adotou-se o modelo conceitual da Teoria Residual dos Dividendos, estabelecidos pioneiramente por Modigliani e Miller (1961) e revisitado por Jensen (1986) na Teoria Free Cash Flow. Assim, conduziu-se um levantamento do Fluxo de Caixa Livre do Acionista (FCLA) para todas as companhias listadas no Novo Mercado da BM&FBovespa desde a sua criação até o ano de 2011. O objetivo foi investigar o perfil da política de dividendos dessas empresas, a partir da avaliação de como elas administram o FCLA. Além disso, foi testado se as decisões sobre a destinação do saldo de FCLA impactaram na rentabilidade do acionista, expressa pela Taxa de Retorno da Ação (TRA). Como proposta secundária, foram pesquisados também os fluxos de reinvestimento dos lucros destas companhias, buscando verificar se os acionistas são recompensados por maiores ganhos de capital em contrapartida pelo não recebimento de dividendos e, também, onde são alocados os lucros reinvestidos. Como resultado, constatou-se que grande parte das companhias apresentaram elevados níveis de sobreinvestimento no período, provocado pela retenção do FCLA, e que este problema pode ter sido a causa de uma Taxa de Retorno da Ação menor em alguns setores. Adicionalmente, foi observado que as empresas que mais retiveram lucro, ao longo do tempo, foram também as que proporcionaram os maiores retornos de ganhos de capital aos seus acionistas. Por fim, detectou-se que os lucros retidos pelas companhias foram reaplicados, em sua grande maioria, em investimentos relacionados à expansão ou manutenção de suas capacidades produtivas (capital fixo), embora a maior parcela deles acabasse não sendo identificada em nenhum dos ativos expressos pelo balanço patrimonial contábil. / According to the theory of the firm, the firm is a nexus of contractual relationships between its various participants. Such contractual relations, which are not perfect, agency problems arise, elapsed the information asymmetry and conflicts of interest between the engaged and the contractor, where, agent and principal. In this case, when it is intended to align the interests between them, appears to corporate governance, acting as a means to minimize conflicts and differences existing and correct the faults present in the process of communication and information firms. In Brazil, due to the weak legal protection for minority shareholders, the high concentration of ownership in firms and the separation between common and preferred shareholders, some institutional and government measures have been taken over the years in order to contribute to the evolution of corporate governance practices in the country. One such initiative was the creation in 2000 of the Novo Mercado segment by the Bovespa, composed of rules and increasing requirements in relation to good governance practices. Therefore, it is coherent to think that the dividend policy before influenced by the need to act as an instrument for reducing conflicts between shareholders, has to be decided from a managerial focus by companies in this segment, that is, the financial point of view of maximizing shareholder wealth. To test this assumption, we adopted the conceptual model of the Residual Theory of Dividends, established pioneered by Modigliani and Miller (1961) and revisited by Jensen (1986) in the Free Cash Flow Theory. Thus, we conducted a survey of Free Cash Flow to Equity (FCFE) for all companies listed on the Novo Mercado of the BM&FBovespa since its inception until the year 2011. The aim was to investigate the profile of the dividend policy of these companies, based on the evaluation of how they manage the FCFE. Furthermore, was tested whether if decisions on the allocation of the balance of FCFE impacted the profitability of the shareholder, expressed by the Rate of Stock Return (RSR). As proposed secondary, were surveyed the flows of reinvestment of profits these companies, seeking first check whether the shareholders are rewarded by higher capital gains in return for non-receipt of dividends, and also where they are allocated reinvested earnings. As a result, it was found that most companies had high levels of overinvestment during the period, caused by retention of FCFE and that this problem may have been the cause of a Rate of Stock Return lower in some sectors. Additionally, it was observed that companies that retained earnings, over time, were also the ones that provided the highest returns of capital gains to its shareholders. Finally, it was found that profits retained by the companies were reapplied mostly in investments related to the expansion or maintenance of their productive capacity (capital assets), while the largest portion of them end up not being identified in any of the assets of the balance sheet accounting.

Many theorists have linked dividends with the ability to carry signals regarding a firm’s expected financial performance. Despite being grounded on a sound theoretical framework, empirical evidence has failed to unanimously corroborate the dividend signalling hypothesis, with some authors resignedly concluding that dividends are the puzzle of finance literature. Recent empirical evidence has shown that limiting the dividend signalling hypothesis to earnings has contributed to that puzzle. To try and decipher the puzzle, this study extends the dividend signalling hypothesis to measures of financial performance seldom linked with dividend signalling such as liquidity and gearing. Using panel data regression models and data for 39 firms listed on the JSE from 1995 to 2016, the study reveal that when one controls for the mean reversion and autocorrelation of profitability, dividends lose the power to signal earnings. The results further show that managers in South Africa use dividends to signal expected changes in liquidity and gearing. / Business Management / M. Phil. (Accounting Sciences)

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)