Purpose -This paper seeks to present and test a model of the association between dividend payout and executive compensation. Design/methodology/approach - The authors develop a model based on Bhattacharyya whereby managerial quality is unobservable to shareholders, and therefore first-best...

Bhattacharyya (2007) develops a model in which compensation contracts motivate high-quality managers to retain and invest firm earnings, while low-quality managers are motivated to distribute income to shareholders. In equilibrium, the model shows that there is a positive (negative) relationship...