The Relationship Between Ownership Structure And Cash Dividend Distribution Level

Dividend policy is one of the main financial policies of listed companies,it is not only the embodiment of corporate governance,but also directly related to the vital interests of investors.As a cash-based carrier,cash dividend policy is a kind of strategy that it can give investors a reasonable allocation of current year's surplus.It can also play an increasingly important role in the current corporate governance.China's securities market started late,many listed companies face different degrees of corporate governance issues since the 90 s of last century.Based on the background of the socialist market economy with Chinese characteristics,Chinese scholars have gradually begun to study a series of corporate financial policies represented by cash dividend policy.Cash dividend policy is the result of mutual game between different stakeholders inside and outside the company who fight to maximize their benefits,but ownership structure can divide different interest groups into different types of power,so the ownership structure of listed companies has become an important factor in cash dividend policy.Before 2005,China's listed companies were in the state of split share structure,Non-tradable shares held by controlling shareholders are not allowed to enter the secondary market.In 2005,the split-share structure reform began to be implemented;all the shares of China's stock market can be traded in the secondary market until 2011.Therefore,the split-share structure reform basically eliminated the stock liquidity differences and it also indirectly changed the cash dividend policy of listed companies.Unlike state-owned listed companies,the cash dividend policy of private listed companies is more market-oriented;the "invisible hand" in the market can play a leading role in the formulation of its financial policy.Therefore,this paper selected 2003-2005 and 2012-2014 private listed companies as the relevant sample before and after the split-share structure reform.Respectively,comparing the changes of ownership structure during the two periods and discussing the influence of ownership structure's changes on cash dividend distribution level.In this paper,the results show:(1)After the split-share structure reform,the absolute holding ratio of the company's controlling shareholder have decreased,stocks basically achieve a full circulation.After the split-share structure reform,the other shareholders of private listed companies failed to produce absolute checks and balances on the controlling shareholder;on the contrary,the degree of balance does not rise but lower with relatively large amplitude.(2)After the split-share structure reform,more and more profitable private listed companies choose to distribute cash dividends to investors and this behavior has gradually stabilized;Compared with the pre-split share structure reform,the abnormal phenomenon of low cash dividends is more serious after the split-share structure reform,but abnormal phenomenon of overpaid cash dividends is not particularly evident,and it has improved.(3)Before and after the split-share structure reform,cash dividends have become a mean of controlling shareholder “tunneling” companies and investors,but after the split-share structure reform,this phenomenon has eased.After the split-share structure reform,liquidity of the stock is no longer a major factor influencing the company's cash dividend distribution level,on the contrary,the degree of ownership checks and balances in the company is becoming more and more obvious while making the level of cash dividend distribution.