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September 2022 (published: 27.09.2022)
Number 3(50)
Home > Issue > Dividend policy: fundamental importance, review and analysis of the consistency
of concepts, the model of smoothing dividends
Lisitsa M.I.
The dividend policy matters for issuers of shares and their holders because of the phenomena generated during its implementation (financial, signal, behavioral and even emotional). However, despite the importance of the dividend policy as a strategy for rewarding shareholders, specialists do not have a single or at least fundamentally agreed point of view on the payment of dividends. In particular, the question of the impact of dividends on the welfare of shareholders is discussed in several concepts that suffer from flaws, and so significant that there is still no convincing theoretical answer to this question. When discussing additional issues of the dividend policy (how much of the net profit shareholders should receive as dividends for the expected period of time, how stable the amount of dividend payments should be, what should be the amount of dividend payments for the reporting period of time), there are great successes. At least, it succeeds: 1) to demonstrate the usefulness of a predictable dividend policy at a qualitative level; 2) to explain, even speculatively, the logic of accrual of dividends for the reporting period of time. Unfortunately, due to the lack of methodic, it is not possible to predict how much of the net profit shareholders should receive as dividends for the expected period of time. It is probably difficult to be satisfied with the explanation that dividends should maximize the welfare of shareholders, given the ambiguity in understanding the main issue (is it possible in principle). However, the empirical evidence is on the side of a stable strategy for rewarding shareholders, although there is no exhaustive statistical confirmation here. Finally, taking into account the totality of theoretical problems, financial practitioners are forced to rely on a seemingly flexible and natural approach – the payment of dividends on a residual basis. It is obvious that it does not have a systematic theoretical basis, but it is promising, viable and, most likely, will retain dominance until a more rational alternative is proposed.
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Keywords: The Dividend Policy, the «Habitat» of Shareholders, the Concept of Irrelevant of Dividends, the Concept of Tax Differentiation, the Concept of Preference for Dividends, Payment of Dividends on the Residual Principle, Method of Smoothing of Dividends.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
UDC 336.051
Dividend policy: fundamental importance, review and analysis of the consistency
of concepts, the model of smoothing dividends
The dividend policy matters for issuers of shares and their holders because of the phenomena generated during its implementation (financial, signal, behavioral and even emotional). However, despite the importance of the dividend policy as a strategy for rewarding shareholders, specialists do not have a single or at least fundamentally agreed point of view on the payment of dividends. In particular, the question of the impact of dividends on the welfare of shareholders is discussed in several concepts that suffer from flaws, and so significant that there is still no convincing theoretical answer to this question. When discussing additional issues of the dividend policy (how much of the net profit shareholders should receive as dividends for the expected period of time, how stable the amount of dividend payments should be, what should be the amount of dividend payments for the reporting period of time), there are great successes. At least, it succeeds: 1) to demonstrate the usefulness of a predictable dividend policy at a qualitative level; 2) to explain, even speculatively, the logic of accrual of dividends for the reporting period of time. Unfortunately, due to the lack of methodic, it is not possible to predict how much of the net profit shareholders should receive as dividends for the expected period of time. It is probably difficult to be satisfied with the explanation that dividends should maximize the welfare of shareholders, given the ambiguity in understanding the main issue (is it possible in principle). However, the empirical evidence is on the side of a stable strategy for rewarding shareholders, although there is no exhaustive statistical confirmation here. Finally, taking into account the totality of theoretical problems, financial practitioners are forced to rely on a seemingly flexible and natural approach – the payment of dividends on a residual basis. It is obvious that it does not have a systematic theoretical basis, but it is promising, viable and, most likely, will retain dominance until a more rational alternative is proposed.
Read the full article
Keywords: The Dividend Policy, the «Habitat» of Shareholders, the Concept of Irrelevant of Dividends, the Concept of Tax Differentiation, the Concept of Preference for Dividends, Payment of Dividends on the Residual Principle, Method of Smoothing of Dividends.
DOI 10.17586/2310-1172-2022-17-3-57-68