Effects Of Firm's Leverage And Dividend Payout On R&D Investment Evidence From Russian Joint-stock Companies

Despite the growing importance of investment in innovation in general and R&D Investment in particular,this topic has not been fully explored yet and requires further study.The purpose of this paper is to determine the effects of firm's Leverage and Dividend Payout on the R&D Investment,based on firms traded on Moscow stock exchange market for the period 2008-2017.It allows to gain a more complete picture of the relations between firm's Leverage,R&D Investment and Dividend Payout.Furthermore,the following research will extend the concept of R&D Investment.Obtained results will become an initial stage for future researches for deeper studying R&D Investment and the factors that can influence it.The study suggests the division of Leverage into Short-term Leverage and Long-term Leverage and using these two types of Leverage as two independent variables,this allowed to obtain important results in studying the effect of Leverage.The main research method is a quantitative method.This research used a sample of263 firms drawn from those publicly listed on Moscow stock exchange market for the period 2008-2017.Statistical analysis is done based on obtained data.It includes correlation and regression analysis,moderated regression analysis.The findings from analysis were tested and verified by several robustness tests.From the results of the investigation it is found that the effect of Dividend Payout Ratio on R&D Investment is negative.Short-term Leverage has a positive effect on R&D Investment,while Long-term Leverage has a negative effect on R&D Investment.Results of the research confirm that Short-term Leverage negatively moderates the relationship between Dividend Payout Ratio and R&D Investment,while Long-term Leverage positively moderates the relationship between Dividend Payout Ratio and R&D Investment.Current research is significant,as it will help to build and maintain relationship between innovations and financial resources in joint-stock companies,quantify relationships and influences between R&D Investment,Short-term Leverage,Longterm Leverage and Dividend Payout,and develop recommendations on the use of financial resources and introduction of innovations.