Company Dividends and Ownership Structure: Evidence from UK Panel Data
利用330家英国大型上市公司面板数据，发现股利与所有权集中度负相关，且不同股东类型（如保险公司与个人）对股利影响不同，支持代理理论中股利替代监督的解释。
This study investigates the relationship between dividends and ownership structure for a panel of 330 large quoted UK firms. Controlling for unobserved firm-specific effects, results indicate a negative relationship between dividends and ownership concentration. Ownership composition also matters, with a positive relationship observed for shareholding by insurance companies, and a negative one for individuals. These results are consistent with agency models in which dividends substitute for poor monitoring by a firm's shareholders but can also be explained by the presence of powerful principals who are able to impose their preferred payout policy upon firms. Copyright 2006 Royal Economic Society.