Pyramid Ownership Structure?Dividend Policy And Protection Of Minority Shareholders' Rights And Interests

As the workers of all hierarchies in ownership structure of listed companies want to fight for their own interests,thus forming a dividend policy;and the dividend policy benefit related person will limit the impact of controlling shareholder on the dividend policy through a number of ways to make the infringement of the rights and interests as little as possible.In China's current capital market exist phenomenons like low cash,dividend policy instability and so on,so when the controlling shareholders make decisions on the dividend policy,their identities are particularly important.Therefore,in the study of dividend policy,it has always been a hot topic to study the influence of controlling shareholders through dividend policy and meanwhile,study the occupation of minority shareholders' equity through dividend policy.Since La Porta et al.(1999)proposed the concept of ultimate controller,foreign scholars have found that the main contradiction in corporate governance is that between the controlling shareholder and the minority shareholders;and the controlling shareholder is actually controlled by the ultimate controller whose concealment and complexity make all means aim at maximizing their own interests,resulting in that the rights and interests of the minority shareholders are occupied.Domestic scholars have found that the pyramid ownership structure is ubiquitous in the listed companies,and the dividend policy is the result of the mutual game of each stakeholder,so the pyramid ownership structure and dividend policy are closely linked.And through previous research they found that in the context of a particular system,dividend is also one of the important tools for controlling shareholders to encroach on minority shareholders' equity.So this paper combines the background of China's own characteristics of capital market and discusses the impact of the pyramid ownership structure on the dividend policy and the influence of the pyramid ownership structure and the dividend policy on the protection of minority shareholders'rights and interests.This article first combs the relevant theory about the domestic and foreign pyramid ownership structure,as well as the dividend policy and the protection of minority shareholders' rights,and explains the relevant terms and theories of the pyramid ownership structure,dividend policy and the protection of minority shareholders' rights and interests.This paper analyzes the relevant situation of the pyramid ownership structure and dividend policy in China,and selects listed companies using pyramid ownership structure of A shares in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2011 to 2015 as research samples,for which the main research goals are:(1)to study the impact of the pyramid ownership structure on dividend policy;(2)to study the influence of the pyramid ownership structure and the dividend policy on themselves respectively after the protection of the minority shareholders' rights.The main research conclusion are:(1)In the case of a listed company with a pyramid ownership structure,when dividends distributed,the nature of ultimate controller is non-state.The higher the level,the higher the dividend pay level of listed companies;(2)The higher the ultimate cash flow,the smaller the separation index of ultimate control and ultimate cash flow and listed companies are more willing to pay and pay more dividends.(3)For the listed companies with the pyramid ownership structure,if ultimate controller is state-owned,the less the level,the greater the ultimate cash flow,the smaller the separation of the two powers,the better the minority shareholders can be protected.(4)In the listed companies with the pyramid ownership structure,the listed companies that choose to distribute dividends or do it more are able to protect the minority shareholders equity better.The last part of the paper,according to the empirical results,puts forward the corresponding policy recommendations on the pyramid ownership structure,dividend policy and protection of minority shareholders rights and interests:(1)diversification of investment subjects and investment projects;(2)strengthen the restraint on creditors;(3)standardize the information disclosure system of ultimate controller of listed company;(4)strengthening the legal system of protecting the rights and interests minority shareholders.