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Η πολιτική μερισμάτων απασχολεί τα Διοικητικά Συμβούλια όλων των επιχειρήσεων και λαμβάνεται υπόψη προκειμένου κάθε επιχειρηματική οντότητα να λάβει ορθές αποφάσεις για τη μελλοντική πορεία της. Στο πρώτο μέρος της εργασίας γίνεται μια εισαγωγή στο θέμα. Αναφέρονται οι στόχοι κάθε επιχείρησης, η έννοια του καθαρού κέρδους, ο ορισμός, οι τύποι και οι λειτουργίες των μερισμάτων, η έννοια της μερισματικής πολιτικής, τα είδη της και οι παράγοντες που την επηρεάζουν. Στο δεύτερο μέρος περιγράφεται ο αντικειμενικός σκοπός αυτής της εργασίας. Εν συνεχεία, στο τρίτο μέρος ακολουθεί μια σύντομη ιστορική αναδρομή, όπου γίνεται αναφορά των πιο σημαντικών μελετών κι ερευνών που έχουν διαδραματίσει σημαντικό ρόλο στη διατύπωση διαφόρων θεωριών περί μερισματικής πολιτικής. Στο τέταρτο μέρος επιχειρείται μια εμπειρική μελέτη επιχειρήσεων εισηγμένων στο Χρηματιστήριο της Νέας Υόρκης (New York Stock Exchange) έτσι ώστε να ερευνηθεί η σχέση των μερισμάτων τους με άλλα σημαντικά οικονομικά μεγέθη των εταιριών αυτών. Στο πέμπτο μέρος παρουσιάζονται τα εμπειρικά αποτελέσματα που προέκυψαν έπειτα από την εφαρμογή τριών διαφορετικών υποδειγμάτων καθώς επίσης και κάποια περιγραφικά στοιχεία. Στο έκτο και τελευταίο μέρος της διπλωματικής εργασίας αναφέρονται τα συμπεράσματα που διεξάγονται από τη μελέτη / The dividend policy employs the Boards of all businesses and taken into account in any business entity to take good decisions about their future course. In the first part of this work is an introduction to the subject. Describe the objectives of each company, the concept of profit, the definition, types and functions of dividends, the effect of dividend policy, types and factors affecting it. The second part describes the objective of this work. Subsequently, the third part follows a brief history, citing the most important studies and research have played an important role in formulating various theories on dividend policy. The fourth part attempts an empirical study of companies listed on the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) to investigate the relationship between dividends with other key financial figures of those companies. The fifth part presents the empirical results obtained after applying three different models as well as some descriptive information. The sixth and final part of this thesis, the conclusions of the study conducted.

abstract: This dissertation consists of two essays on corporate policy. The first chapter analyzes whether being labeled a “growth” firm or a “value” firm affects the firm’s dividend policy. I focus on the dividend policy because of its discretionary nature and the link to investor demand. To address endogeneity concerns, I use regression discontinuity design around the threshold to assign firms to each category. The results show that “value” firms have a significantly higher dividend payout - about four percentage points - than growth firms. This approach establishes a causal link between firm “growth/value” labels and dividend policy. The second chapter develops investment policy model which associated with du- ration of cash flow. Firms are doing their business by operating a portfolio of projects that have various duration, and the duration of the project portfolio generates dif- ferent duration of cash flow stream. By assuming the duration of cash flow as a firm specific characteristic, this paper analyzes how the duration of cash flow affects firms’ investment decision. I develop a model of investment, external finance, and savings to characterize how firms’ decision is affected by the duration of cash flow. Firms maximize total value of cash flow, while they have to maintain their solvency by paying a fixed cost for the operation. I empirically confirm the positive correlation between duration of cash flow and investment with theoretical support. Financial constraint suffocates the firm when they face solvency issue, so that model with financial constraint shows that the correlation between duration of cash flow and investment is stronger than low financial constraint case. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Economics 2015

Este estudo teve como objetivo obter evidências sobre a relação entre a política de dividendos adotada pelas empresas listadas na BM&FBOVESPA e as suas respectivas estruturas de propriedade e de controle. Adicionalmente, buscou-se identificar possíveis alterações ocorridas no tempo no que se refere às estruturas de propriedade e de controle e aos níveis de dividendos pagos pelas companhias. Para tanto, foram analisadas 297 companhias abertas no período de 2005 a 2012, cujos dados estavam disponíveis no banco de dados Economática, através da aplicação do modelo Tobit. Os resultados apontam que empresas com estruturas de controle e de propriedade concentradas tendem a distribuir menos dividendos. Também foi constatado que houve redução nos níveis de alavancagem de controle (diferença entre concentração de controle e de propriedade) nos últimos anos, mas isso não resultou em níveis mais altos de distribuição de dividendos. De modo geral, os resultados confirmam a existência de conflitos entre controladores e minoritários no Brasil. / This study aimed to obtain evidence on the relationship between the dividend policy adopted by companies listed on BM&FBOVESPA and their respective ownership and control. In addition, the study sought to identify possible changes in time with respect to the ownership and control and the levels of dividends paid by the companies. For this, 297 public companies were analyzed in the period from 2005 to 2012, using data available in Economática and applying the Tobit model. The findings point that firms with concentrated ownership and control tend to distribute less dividends. It was also found that there was a reduction in leverage levels of control (difference between concentration of ownership and control) in recent years, but this has not resulted in higher levels of dividend payments. Overall, the results confirm the existence of conflicts between controlling and minority shareholders in Brazil.

Este estudo teve como objetivo obter evidências sobre a relação entre a política de dividendos adotada pelas empresas listadas na BM&FBOVESPA e as suas respectivas estruturas de propriedade e de controle. Adicionalmente, buscou-se identificar possíveis alterações ocorridas no tempo no que se refere às estruturas de propriedade e de controle e aos níveis de dividendos pagos pelas companhias. Para tanto, foram analisadas 297 companhias abertas no período de 2005 a 2012, cujos dados estavam disponíveis no banco de dados Economática, através da aplicação do modelo Tobit. Os resultados apontam que empresas com estruturas de controle e de propriedade concentradas tendem a distribuir menos dividendos. Também foi constatado que houve redução nos níveis de alavancagem de controle (diferença entre concentração de controle e de propriedade) nos últimos anos, mas isso não resultou em níveis mais altos de distribuição de dividendos. De modo geral, os resultados confirmam a existência de conflitos entre controladores e minoritários no Brasil. / This study aimed to obtain evidence on the relationship between the dividend policy adopted by companies listed on BM&FBOVESPA and their respective ownership and control. In addition, the study sought to identify possible changes in time with respect to the ownership and control and the levels of dividends paid by the companies. For this, 297 public companies were analyzed in the period from 2005 to 2012, using data available in Economática and applying the Tobit model. The findings point that firms with concentrated ownership and control tend to distribute less dividends. It was also found that there was a reduction in leverage levels of control (difference between concentration of ownership and control) in recent years, but this has not resulted in higher levels of dividend payments. Overall, the results confirm the existence of conflicts between controlling and minority shareholders in Brazil.

This paper investigates the potential procyclical effects of fair value accounting (FVA). If FVA adjustments result in increased accounting profits with the recognition of transitory gains through a firm's profit and loss (P&L), and if management incorrectly assesses the persistence of the unrealised gains, these increased profits may be paid out as dividends. This has the potential to increase leverage and risk for these firms, thereby also possibly amplifying economic cycles. A study by Goncharov and Van Triest (2011:59) on Russian firms found that FVA adjustments are persistent in future earnings; however, no empirical evidence was found to support an increase in dividends in response to unrealised FVA gains. By contrast, when the setting is limited to South African banks only, De Jager (2015:157) found that South African banks have paid the full amount of any unrealised transitory gains as dividends. This study focuses on the effects of FVA adjustments on dividend policy for South African firms, as represented by the firms included in the FTSE/JSE Top 40 Index. This furthers De Jager's (2015) study by extending the investigation of the dividend relevance of FVA adjustments from the major South African banks, to South African large firms in general. The results of a panel regression of the net profit of these firms reveal that unrealised FVA adjustments do have a persistent influence on future earnings, indicating that these adjustments contain both transitory and persistent elements. A further panel regression of the annual dividends declared by these firms indicates that dividend payments do include a portion of unrealised FVA gains, as expected by the persistent nature of a portion of these unrealised FVA gains.

Yes / This paper examines a new channel through which dividend policy can affect firm value. We find that firms that pay dividends exhibit lower systematic liquidity risk than those that do not. We also report a significant negative relationship between dividend payment and systematic liquidity risk. The liquidity improvement associated with dividend payments translates into an economically meaningful reduction in the cost of equity capital. Our results are robust to endogeneity concerns, to alternative measures of liquidity risk and dividend payouts, and to alternative model specifications. Further analysis suggests that the reduction in liquidity risk associated with dividend payouts is more pronounced for weakly governed firms and firms with opaque informational environment. Finally, we find that the recent financial crisis led to a greater increase in systematic liquidity risk for firms with no or low dividend payouts. Overall, our study implies that dividend policy can be used by corporate managers to shape liquidity risk and mitigate the adverse impact of economic downturns on the value of their firms.

Sammanfattning Titel: Har ett företags utdelningspolicy någon betydelse?   Nivå: Examensarbete på Grundnivå (kandidatexamen) i ämnet företagsekonomi.   Författare: Pontus Kindlund och Andreas Wallgren   Handledare: Catherine Lions   Datum: 2018–01   Syfte: Tidigare forskning undersöker oftast utdelningspolicyns betydelse för investerarna. Därför har vi valt att se det från företagens perspektiv genom att undersöka hur ett företags utdelningspolicy påverkar företagets genomsnittliga kapitalkostnad.   Metod: Studien har en kvantitativ metod med hypotesprövningar och en deduktiv ansats där datan är inhämtad från Thompson Reuters Datastream. Regressionsanalyser har sedan utförts för att studera sambandet mellan företagens utdelningspolicy och företagens genomsnittliga kapitalkostnader.   Resultat och slutsats: Studiens resultat visar att det inte finns några omfattande samband mellan företagens utdelningspolicy och företagens genomsnittliga kapitalkostnader. Vår studie är därför i linje med studien från Modigliani och Miller (1961) angående utdelningspolicyns irrelevans.   Examensarbetets bidrag: Studiens resultat bidrar med kunskap som kan vara till nytta för företagsledningar som utarbetar företagens utdelningspolicy, eftersom oavsett val av utdelningspolicy kan det inte förväntas ha en signifikant påverkan på företagens genomsnittliga kapitalkostnad.   Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Då vår studie inte har tagit hänsyn till företagens investeringsmöjligheter så kvarstår det att även ta hänsyn till detta för att undersöka utdelningspolicyns påverkan på den genomsnittliga kapitalkostnaden.   Nyckelord: Utdelningspolicy, Genomsnittlig kapitalkostnad, Signalteori, Utdelningspolicyns irrelevans, Trade-off-teori / Abstract Title: Does a company’s dividend policy matter?   Level: Student thesis, final assignment for Bachelor Degree in Business Administration.   Author: Pontus Kindlund and Andreas Wallgren   Supervisor: Catherine Lions   Date: 2018–01   Aim: Previous research usually explores the importance of the dividend policy for investors. Therefore, we have chosen to see it from the corporate perspective by investigating how a company's dividend policy affects the company's weighted average cost of capital.   Method: The study has a deductive approach and a quantitative method of hypothesis testing and where the data is obtained from Thompson Reuters Datastream. Regression analysis has then been conducted to study the relationship between the dividend policy and the companies’ weighted average cost of capital.   Result & Conclusions: The study's results show that there is no general correlation between the company's dividend policy and the company's weighted average cost of capital. Our study is in line with the study by Modigliani and Miller (1961) regarding the irrelevance of the dividend policy.   Contribution of the thesis: The results of the study contribute to creating knowledge that may be useful to business executives who prepare the company's dividend policy, since any choice of dividend policy should not be expected to have a significant impact on the weighted average cost of capital.   Suggestions for future research: As our study has not taken into account the companies' investment opportunities, it remains to take this into consideration to investigate the impact of the dividend policy on the weighted average cost of capital.   Key words: Dividend policy, Weighted average cost of capital, Signaling theory, The irrelevance of a dividend policy, Trade-off theory

This study examines the effect of ownership structure on dividend policy of 284 firms listed on the OMX Stockholm Exchange in Swedenfrom 2010-2015. Specifically, the purpose of the study is to investigate therelationship betweendifferentinvestor types and dividend policies of firms, measured as dividend yield and dividend payout ratio.Also, the study aims to predict dividend behaviours based on ownership structure which may be useful inthe future since ownership structures of listed Swedish firms havebeen changing over time, with an increased consolidation of ownership and a sharpincrease in institutional ownership. The sample consistsof 1046 observations and was gathered from Thomson Reuters’ Datastream and Eikon databases. This is the first study to examine the relationship between ownership structure and dividend policy in Sweden.The dividend policy is measured using two dependent variables; dividend payout ratio anddividend yield and a multiple regression has been used in orderto test the hypotheses whether any relationships exist between 17 different types of ownership structure used as independent variables, four additional control variables and dividend policy.The findings indicated significant positive relationships between institutional ownership and dividend yield and dividend payout, with one exception being private equity which exhibited a negative relationship with dividend yield. Furthermore, market capitalization, return on assets and price to book value are positively related to dividend payout while debt/equity ratio showed a negative relationship with dividend yield. The results contradict those of the most recent research conducted in Turkey (Al-Najjar & Kilincarsla, 2016) but adds supportin the debateto existing theories of dividends’ relevance to the value of firms developed by Gordon (1963), Lintner (1962) and Walter (1963). Limitations of the study include the geographical delimitation to Sweden which creates some constraints to wider generalization ofthe results to other geographical settings. Furthermore, the datacollected from Thomson Reuters Eikon hadmissing values, showed signs of heteroscedasticity and relevant investor variables such as family ownership were unavailable.

Denna studie undersöker förekomsten av informationsinnehåll i utdelningsförändringar i börsnoterade svenska företag under åren 2006-2015. För att besvara forskningsfrågan undersöks sambandet mellan utdelningsförändringar och framtida vinstnivåer. Vi använder variabeln familjeägande som kontrollvariabel och undersöker om familjeägande påverkar förekomsten av ett informationsinnehåll negativt. Familjeägande bedöms i denna studie som företag med minst 20 procent av rösträtterna tillhörande en familj samt minst en familjemedlem närvarande i styrelse eller ledning. Vi finner att utdelningsförändringar ger information om vinstnivåer innevarande år då förändringen genomförs men ej de två efterföljande åren. Inga belägg hittas för att familjeägande negativt skulle påverka förekomsten av informationsinnehåll. Vidare finner vi stöd för att avvikelse från historisk avkastning på eget kapital signifikant påverkar vinstnivåer. Vi finner därmed stöd för att vinst är mean reverting. / This paper examines the presence of information contents in dividend changes in Swedish listed companies between the years 2006-2015. To answer the research question the connection between dividend changes and future profit levels is examined. We include the variable family ownership as a control variable and examine whether family ownership negatively affects the occurance of information contents. In the study, family ownership is defined as companies controlled by 20 percent by a family and having at least one family member on the board or in an executive position. We find evidence that changes in dividend provide information about profits the actual year of the change, but not the two following years. No proof is found that family ownership negatively affects this information content. Moreover, we find evidence that deviation from the historical return on equity significantly affects the profit levels. We therefore give support to the existence of a mean reversion in earnings.