Dividend policy of publicly quoted companies in emerging markets : the case of Jordan

The determinants of corporate dividend policy remain controversial despite half a century of active research. Over that time a number of competing theories of dividend policy have been proposed, but no consensus has been reached about their explanatory power. This thesis examines the determinants of dividend policy of publicly quoted companies in Jordan as a case study of an emerging market. The study uses a firm-level panel data set of all publicly traded firms on the Ammam Stock Exchange between 1989 and 2000. Nine research hypotheses are developed, which are used to represent the main theories of corporate dividends. The results of studies conducted in this thesis suggest that the proportion of stocks held by insiders and state ownership significantly affect the amount of dividends paid, but not the decision to pay dividends. Larger, mature, profitable firms with less investment opportunities are more likely to pay dividends. These factors are found to also positively affect the level of dividends. Results provide no support for the signalling hypothesis. The thesis concludes with a discussion of some of the implications of all results and suggestions for further research.