Stock Market Development and the Decline of the Portion of Dividend Payers Throughout the World

Abstract:     
I contend that stock market development has substantially contributed to the decline of dividend payers worldwide. Using data from 31 countries, my research shows that stock market development makes firms in countries with a relatively high dependence on stock market financing less likely to pay dividends, to pay less, and more likely to omit. These results also are robust to the sample selection, the time‐varying firm characteristics, and the differences in legal systems, capital market scales, and country‐level information disclosure.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 21

Keywords: stock market development, likelihood to pay, payouts, omission, dividends

JEL Classification: G15, G32, G35

Accepted Paper Series