Does mandating disclosure on dividend payout policy benefit shareholder?

Abstract

Shareholders constantly face the challenge of determining optimal dividends. While other emerging markets rely on fixed dividend regulations to ensure shareholders’ right for dividends, India adopts a disclosure-based approach. SEBI's regulation 43(A), 2016, mandates Indian firms to disclose their dividend distribution policies. We show that mandating firms to disclose their dividend distribution policies is an effective approach as it leads to a noticeable increase in both the probability and amount of dividend payouts.