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Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis Vol. 48 No. 3 2013

The Shareholder Base and Payout Policy

Andriy Bodnaruk1; Per Östberg2

1 University of Notre Dame · 2 University of Zurich

open access

Abstract

We examine the relation between the shareholder base and payout policy. Consistent with the idea that the shareholder base is related to the cost of external financing, we find that firms with small shareholder bases have lower payout levels and maintain higher cash holdings. We show that undertaking an open market repurchase results in a significant reduction in the size of the shareholder base. Consequently, we find that firms with small shareholder bases are less likely to undertake a repurchase (reduce the shareholder base even further) and are more likely to pay special dividends.

DOI
10.1017/s0022109013000252
Volume
48
Issue
3
Pages
729-760
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

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