Izvorni znanstveni članak
https://doi.org/10.1080/1331677X.2023.2203208
The relationship between dividend payout and economic policy uncertainty (EPU), ownership concentration and free cash flow in Chile
Carlos P. Maquieira
José T. Arias
Christian Espinosa-Méndez
Sažetak
This study examines how the dividend payout of Chilean firms is
associated with economic policy uncertainty (EPU), while controlling
for ownership concentration and free cash flow, to consider
agency problems. Its contribution is twofold. First, it detects a
non-linear, U-shaped relation between EPU and dividend payout,
which is a novel finding. Second, this result holds only in cases of
high EPU. No significant relationship in cases of low EPU was
detected. The sample comprises an unbalanced panel data of
1034 observations from 2005 to 2016. Including ownership concentration
as an independent variable leads to a negative association
between it and dividend payout, showing a potential
agency problem between the main shareholder and the minorities.
If free cash flow is considered in the model, then the results
show a positive relation between free cash flow and dividend
payout, which implies the mitigation of the agency problem.
Finally, once both variables (ownership concentration and free
cash flow) are considered together as explanatory variables, only
free cash flow turns out to be statistically significant and positively
associated with dividend payout.
Ključne riječi
Dividend payout; economic policy uncertainty; ownership concentration; free cash flow; Chile
Hrčak ID:
314876
URI
Datum izdavanja:
11.5.2023.
Posjeta: 387 *