| The stock structure of Chinese companies is highly centralized, and concentrated stockstructure contributes to the agency cost between owners and managers, but also aggravates theagency conflicts of blockholders and minority shareholders. In addition, the deficiency ofChinese shareholder protection law increases the tunneling effect by blockholders, and it hasbecome an important problem to hinder the development of Chinese stock market, thus theresearch on tunneling effect of blockholders is meaningful in practice. Under the concentratedownership structure, the private benefits of control right cause all kinds of tunnelingbusinesses to transfer the resources of listed companies to their blockholders, and the interestof minority shareholders is damaged. Cash dividend is one of the tunneling tools. Therefore,the study on the tunneling effect of dividend policy has meanings in theory and practice.This dissertation traces back to ultimate control right to study the dividend policy, discussestheoretical views based on theory of private benefits of control right, and researches on thedividend tunneling effect and its influential factors by empirical study. The empirical studyconsists of two parts, firstly select12009samples of A share market ranging from year2003to year2011, and use the multiple regression model to study the relationship between ultimatecontrol right and dividend payouts and the relationship between the separation of control rightand cash flow right and dividend payouts. This dissertation illustrates the tunneling effect ofdividend policy of China’s listed companies based on the positive relationship betweenultimate control right and dividend payouts. Secondly, this dissertation studies the influentialfactors of dividend tunneling effect in terms of government policies, industrial factors andfirm factors. Based on the regression model of first measure, this dissertation divides thesamples into smaller ones in light of the size of influential factors, and adds cross terms to themodel to study the relationship between ultimate control right and cash dividend payouts. Thecross term can be used to explain the specific impact of the influential factors. Following thestudy of influential factors of dividend tunneling effect, this dissertation put forwardsuggestions from the aspects of government and firm.The main conclusions of this dissertation include the below.(1) The ultimate control right is positively related to the dividend payout, which illustrates the dividend tunneling effect(2)The separation of control right and cash flow right has significant effect on dividend policy,and the effect differs by different control modes.(3)The tunneling effect of dividend policy isinfluenced in different ways by different influential factors. The non-tradable share reform hassignificant negative influence on dividend policy, and the semi mandatory dividend policystrengthens the effect in some way. The dividend tunneling effect has significant difference indifferent industries. Free cash flow is positively related to the dividend tunneling effect whileinvestment opportunity and direct profit stealing are negatively related to the effect. Theownership nature of blockholders significantly influences the dividend tunneling effect, andthe equity restriction of other major shareholders even strengths the dividend tunneling effect. |
