Ownership Structure and Dividend Policy: Evidence from China

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between ownership structure and dividend policy in Thailand in a sample of 1,927 observations over the period 2002-2010. The results show that Thai firms are more likely to pay dividends when they have higher ownership concentration or the largest shareholder is an institution and that firms pay higher dividends when the largest shareholder, especially an institution, holds more percentage of shares. It is also found that both the likelihood of paying dividends and the magnitude of dividend payouts increase (decrease) with higher institutional (individual) ownership, the findings mostly driven by the ownership of domestic investors.