Does ownership structure affect dividend policy? A panel data analysis for the French market

Abstract

This study tries to examine the effect of ownership structure on the dividend policy of 102 French companies listed on the SBF1201 index for a period of five years from 2010 to 2014 with a total of 510 observations. Based on agency and signal theories, we have empirically demonstrated the role of substitution between corporate governance mechanisms and dividend payout. Our study also demonstrates the role of dividend policy in disciplining manager behaviour (or in reducing managers' opportunistic behaviour). Our results indicate that firms with institutional, largest, managerial and family shareholders pay lower dividends.