Does Corporate Performance Determine Capital Structure and Dividend Policy?

53 Pages Posted: 22 Mar 2005

See all articles by Michael W. Faulkender

Michael W. Faulkender

University of Maryland - Robert H. Smith School of Business

Anjan V. Thakor

Washington University in St. Louis - John M. Olin Business School; Financial Theory Group; European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI); Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Laboratory for Financial Engineering

Todd T. Milbourn

Washington University in Saint Louis - Olin Business School

Date Written: March 9, 2006

Abstract

We present an integrated theory of capital structure and dividend policy in which both financial policy choices are driven by the same underlying factors and jointly determined as implicit governance mechanisms to allocate control over real (project choice) decisions between managers and investors. At one extreme is a very highly levered firm with very little equity. Such a firm puts the maximum control over project choice in the hands of investors. At the other extreme is an all-equity firm that pays no dividends. Such a firm puts maximum control in the hands of the manager. Between these two extremes is a continuum of control allocations determined by different debt-equity ratios and different dividend payout ratios. Higher debt-equity ratios and higher dividend payouts lead to greater investor control. Despite the absence of agency or asymmetric information problems, control matters because of a divergence of beliefs between the manager and investors that could lead to disagreement over the value-maximizing project choice. The extent of the potential disagreement depends upon the firm's prior performance. The manager sets the firm's dividend policy and capital structure to optimally trade off the value he attaches to being in control of project choice against the decline in stock price from taking control away from investors. We generate testable predictions from the theory and then test them empirically. These tests provide strong support for the theory.

Keywords: Capital Structure, Dividend Policy, Disagreement

JEL Classification: G32, G35

Suggested Citation

Faulkender, Michael W. and Thakor, Anjan V. and Milbourn, Todd T., Does Corporate Performance Determine Capital Structure and Dividend Policy? (March 9, 2006). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=686865 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.686865

Michael W. Faulkender (Contact Author)

University of Maryland - Robert H. Smith School of Business ( email )

College Park, MD 20742-1815
United States

Anjan V. Thakor

Washington University in St. Louis - John M. Olin Business School ( email )

One Brookings Drive
Campus Box 1133
St. Louis, MO 63130-4899
United States

Financial Theory Group ( email )

United States

European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) ( email )

c/o the Royal Academies of Belgium
Rue Ducale 1 Hertogsstraat
1000 Brussels
Belgium

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Laboratory for Financial Engineering ( email )

100 Main Street, E62-618
Cambridge, MA 02142
United States

Todd T. Milbourn

Washington University in Saint Louis - Olin Business School ( email )

1 Brookings Drive
Campus Box 1133
St. Louis, MO 63130-4899
United States
314-935-6392 (Phone)
314-935-6359 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.olin.wustl.edu/faculty/milbourn/

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