We investigate dividend smoothing behaviors of approximately 6,000 firms from 28 countries. The data find a wide variation in the extent of dividend smoothing across countries, while US firms smooth dividends the most. Firms with a concentrated ownership structure adjust their dividends quickly,...

This study explores whether and how controlling and institutional shareholdings shape payout policies. Both shareholdings are significantly associated with payouts consisting of repurchases and dividends. However, the two shareholder groups appear to have divergent preferences on payouts, as...

We investigated the relation between changes in cash dividend payments, non-public tradable shares, and the percentage of ownership of the controlling shareholder in Chinese firms before and after the Split-share structure reform. We found a significant reduction in cash dividends before and...