Research On Chinese Listed Corporate Dividend Policy

As a part of corporation financial policy, the issue of dividend policy has long been studying in western from the 1950's. Western scholars have conducted a lot of theoretical studies and empirical analyses and put forward various theories with different ideas for dividend policy. In comparison with the overseas research, we have not paid more attention to the theoretical and empirical studies of dividend policy, the study of the policy has just begun in China and still been at the stage of neglect. Just because we have no the dividend theory and experience, the administrators and accountants of Chinese listed companies have no criterions in their decisions on dividend, and the policy has showed more nonstandard characters: such as they have many different dividend forms, ignore the company's long term development, often change the ratio and time of dividend payment at will. With the expending of Chinese capital market and the sharp increase of Chinese listed companies, the enterprise managements face more and more financial problems that relate with dividend policy. So, the listed companies urgently need the scientific, systemic and practical research fruits to guide their decisions of dividend, and the Chinese security market imminently need some criterions and measures to supervise the public companies' dividend actions. At this background, I have interested in studying the dividend policy characters of Chinese public companies and founding the deep-seated reasons for these characters.This paper is divided into five chapters. In Chapterl and Chapter 2, the paper reviews the relevant western dividend theories, makes an brief comment through summarization of the general development of the dividend policy theories, and points out that the dividend policy still is a brainteaser for us and what we have known is lacking. In Chapter 2, the author analyses the motives, principals and two models of dividends with emphasis, summarizes the dividend policy characters of Chinese listed companies. From the data, we can see the differences.At the base of front content, Chapter 3 concretely points out the nonstandard problems, and analyses the reasons for this problems from three angles: the background of Chinese security, the stock structure of listed companies and the increase of investment. Among these reasons, the stock structure is the direct interior reason for the random of Chinese dividend. In order to understand the effect of normative dividend policy and give some practical advices for the companies' managements and accountants, the author studies the western companies' dividend actions, makes an brief comparison, puts forward the long term goal of our dividend policy and the way of making dividend decisions referenced the capital budget knowledge. This is the main aim and practical sense of this thesis.