Has the Propensity to Pay Out Declined?
研究发现，尽管过去30年公司支付股利的倾向显著下降，但向股东净现金分配的条件倾向并未下降，且净支付收益率随时间上升。
Abstract Recent studies document both a significant decline in firms’ propensity to pay dividends and a significant increase in firms’ propensity to repurchase shares and issue equity over the past 30 years. In this paper we test whether firms’ net cash disbursements to equity holders have declined in a pattern similar to firms’ propensity to pay dividends. Contrary to the evidence using dividends, we find no evidence that the conditional propensity to distribute net cash to equity holders has declined over the past 3 decades. Surprisingly, we find that, conditional on firm characteristics, net payout yields have been increasing over time.