Motivated by agency theory, we investigate how a firm’s overall quality of corporate governance affects its dividend … firms with stronger governance exhibit a higher propensity to pay dividends and, for dividend payers, pay larger dividends …. The results are consistent with the notion that shareholders of firms with better governance quality are able to force …

We contribute to the literature on dividend policy by relaxing Miller and Modigliani's (1961) perfect capital market … dividend payouts by 29%. Our results are consistent with the notion that talented managers, confident in their ability to keep …

. Returns to shareholders through dividends are much more certain than returns through capital gains expected to be realized far … into the future. We hypothesize that religious piety leads to a higher likelihood of dividend payments. We exploit the … variation in religious piety across the U.S. counties and estimate the effect of religion on dividend policy. To draw a causal …

directors on the board, however, mitigate the negative effect of infectious diseases on dividends, implying that the dividend …

reveals a non-linear association between dividend payouts and investment return expected by bondholders. In particular, while … bondholders view cash disbursements in small amounts as a positive signal, large dividend payouts are viewed negatively. Our …, and term structure. Exploiting the 2003 dividend tax cut as an exogenous shock, we demonstrate that our results are not …

We explore how co-opted directors affect dividend policy. Co-opted directors are those appointed after the incumbent … dividend-paying firms, significantly lower dividend payouts. We also show that board co-option has more explanatory power for … dividend policy than does the traditional measure of board effectiveness, that is, board independence. Exploiting the passage …

helps align management's and shareholders' interests whereas outside-dominated boards better monitor management, whose … fiduciary duties to shareholders may be compromised by conflicts of interest inherent in management buyouts. Finally, there is …