Can Dividends Affect the Investment Decisions of Listed Firms in Vietnam?

Abstract

This paper aims to estimate the impact of dividends on the investment decisions of listed firms in Vietnam. The relationship between dividends and investments is explained using agency and asymmetric information theories. In markets with low information transparency, such as the Vietnamese stock market, these theories are used. Fama and Miller (1972), for example, argued that the dividend should not be based on the investment of firms. The study, however, uses a quantitative research method known as the System Generalized Method of Moments (SGMM), which addresses the endogeneity issue and tests the hypothesis in the model to highlight dependent investment decisions on dividends. As a result, the author concludes that dividends have a statistically significant negative impact on investment decisions.