Investigation of the Relationship between Ownership–Control Discrepancy and Dividend Policy in Tehran Stock Exchange

Present research examines the relation between the ownership-control discrepancy the major shareholder and dividend policy in Tehran Stock Exchange. This research focuses on the effect of the conflicts of interests between majority shareholders and minority shareholders on firms’ dividend policy, because dividend policy can serve as a replacement for this the conflicts of interests. In this research, Investigation all firms in Tehran Stock Exchange that serves the annual reports for the years 2007 through 2010. In a total the selection 134 firms of different industries. The test of the proposed hypotheses conducted on a panel data. In a total research results show that the influence of the ownership to control ratio of the largest shareholder (OWCONT) on dividend payout rate is significantly positive. Indeed, the more this ratio is high, the more the control is low and payout is high. In contrast, if the largest shareholder has a controlling power that exceeds his/her cash flow right, payout is low. Furthermore, control power is significantly related to the dividend policy.