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Rent Extraction by Large Shareholders: Evidence Using Dividend Policy in the Czech Republic

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  • Jan Bena
  • Jan Hanousek
Abstract
Using cross-sectional analysis of corporate dividend policy we show that large shareholders extract rents from firms and expropriate minority shareholders in the weak corporate governance environment of an emerging economy. By comparing dividends paid across varying corporate ownership structures— concentration, type, and domicile of ownership—we quantify these effects and reveal that they are substantial. We find that the target payout ratio for firms with majority ownership is low but that the presence of a significant minority shareholder increases the target payout ratio and hence precludes a majority owner from extracting rent. In contrast to other studies from developed markets, our unique dataset from the Czech Republic for the period 1996-2003 permits us to take account of the endogeneity of ownership.

Suggested Citation

  • Jan Bena & Jan Hanousek, 2006. "Rent Extraction by Large Shareholders: Evidence Using Dividend Policy in the Czech Republic," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp291, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    • Handle: RePEc:cer:papers:wp291
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    Cited by:

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    2. Victor Dragotă & Radu Ciobanu, 2017. "The Unusual Case of the Discount Offers for Taking the Control: Evidence from Romania," Prague Economic Papers, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2017(1), pages 36-54.
    3. Howard Bodenhorn, 2012. "Voting Rights, Share Concentration, and Leverage at Nineteenth-Century US Banks," NBER Working Papers 17808, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Brunzell, Tor & Liljeblom, Eva & Löflund, Anders & Vaihekoski, Mika, 2014. "Dividend policy in Nordic listed firms," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 124-135.
    5. Victor DRAGOTA & Carmen LIPARA & Radu CIOBANU, 2013. "Agency Problems and Synergistic Effects in Romania: The Determinants of the Control Premium," Czech Journal of Economics and Finance (Finance a uver), Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, vol. 63(2), pages 197-219, May.
    6. Anastasiya Shamshur, 2009. "Is the Stability of Leverage Ratios Determined by the Stability of the Economy?," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp393, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    7. Shah, Muhammad Hashim & Xiao, Zuoping & Abdullah,, 2023. "Internal pyramid structure, judicial efficiency, firm-level governance and dividend policy," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 764-785.
    8. Juraj Stančík, 2009. "FDI spillovers in the Czech Republic: takeovers vs. greenfields," European Economy - Economic Papers 2008 - 2015 369, Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission.
    9. Yusnidah Ibrahim & Md Mohan Uddin & Kamarun Nisham Taufil Mohd & Mohd Sobri Minai, 2013. "Agency Costs and the Long-Run Performance of Debt Issuers," Asian Academy of Management Journal of Accounting and Finance (AAMJAF), Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia, vol. 9(1), pages 67-87.
    10. Saul Estrin & Jan Hanousek & Evzen Kocenda & Jan Svejnar, 2009. "The Effects of Privatization and Ownership in Transition Economies," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(3), pages 699-728, September.
    11. Aleksandra Pieloch-Babiarz, 2019. "Ownership structure, board characteristics and dividend policy: evidence from the Warsaw Stock Exchange," Ekonomia i Prawo, Uniwersytet Mikolaja Kopernika, vol. 18(3), pages 317-330, September.
    12. Trien Vinh Le & Trang Huyen Le, 2017. "Ownership And Identities Of The Largest Shareholders And Dividend Policy: Evidence From Vietnam," Organizations and Markets in Emerging Economies, Faculty of Economics, Vilnius University, vol. 8(1).
    13. Mehmet Levent Erdaş & Emel Bachá Sımoes, 2020. "The Relationship between Audit Mechanisms and Dividend Payout Policy within the Framework of Corporate Governance: The Case of Turkey," Journal of Economy Culture and Society, Istanbul University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 62(62), pages 255-284, December.
    14. Estrin, Saul & Hanousek, Jan & Shamshur, Anastasiya, 2024. "Does it matter who owns firms? Evidence on the impact of supermajority control on private firms in Europe," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 95(PB).
    15. Juraj Stancik, 2007. "Horizontal and Vertical FDI Spillovers: Recent Evidence from the Czech Republic," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp340, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    16. Urzúa I., Francisco, 2009. "Too few dividends? Groups' tunneling through chair and board compensation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 245-256, April.
    17. Dragotă, Victor & Pele, Daniel Traian & Yaseen, Hanaan, 2019. "Dividend payout ratio follows a Tweedie distribution: International evidence," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 13, pages 1-35.
    18. Zuzana Fungacova, 2007. "Can the Market Fix a Wrong Administrative Decision? Massive Delisting on the Prague Stock Exchange," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp335, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    19. Ingrid-Mihaela Dragotă & Andreea Curmei-Semenescu & Raluca Moscu, 2020. "CEO Diversity, Political Influences, and CEO Turnover in Unstable Environments: The Romanian Case," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-22, March.
    20. Hanousek, Jan & Shamshur, Anastasiya, 2011. "A stubborn persistence: Is the stability of leverage ratios determined by the stability of the economy?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(5), pages 1360-1376.
    21. Victor Dragotă & Radu Ciobanu, . "The Unusual Case of the Discount Offers for Taking the Control: Evidence from Romania," Prague Economic Papers, University of Economics, Prague, vol. 0, pages 1-19.
    22. Brada, Josef C., 2016. "Corporate governance following mass privatization," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(4), pages 1132-1144.
    23. Jan Hanousek & Jiří Trešl, 2019. "Charakteristiky celkových výplat akcionářům soukromých firem v zemích visegradské skupiny [Firms' Total Payout Characteristics in Visegrad Countries]," Politická ekonomie, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2019(5), pages 458-475.
    24. Sasho Arsov & Aleksandar Naumoski, 2016. "Determinants of capital structure: An empirical study of companies from selected post-transition economies," Zbornik radova Ekonomskog fakulteta u Rijeci/Proceedings of Rijeka Faculty of Economics, University of Rijeka, Faculty of Economics and Business, vol. 34(1), pages 119-146.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Rent extraction; Large shareholders; Corporate governance; Dividend policy.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G35 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Payout Policy

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