本論文旨在檢視台灣上市公司獨特之股利(包括現金股利、股票股利及雙股利)發放趨勢，股利迎合現象是否存在，以及影響股利決策之因素。研究結果發現，90年代末期以後，發放雙股利或現金股利的公司比率逐漸上揚，發放股票股利的公司比率則大幅下滑。股利溢價不僅會影響股利發放與否，同時也會影響股利增減決策與股利變化幅度。當某種形態的股利溢價(如現金股利)較高時，經理人較有可能發放該種股利，而較不可能發放其他股利(如股票股利)。當現金股利溢價較高時，公司較有可能決定增加現金股利，而當現金股利或股票股利溢價較高時，公司較有可能增加現金股利或股票股利發放幅度。既使在控制了公司特質、風險、外部股利政策、總體經濟情勢等因素後，迎合現象依舊顯著。其他會影響股利發放與變化決策之重要因素也進行了確認。本論文對台灣股票市場所發行的各類股利發放實務，提供了一個完整的了解。

This study examines the unique patterns of dividend polices, including cash-only, stock-only, and dual dividends, the presence of dividend catering situations, and the factors driving the dividend decisions of Taiwanese firms. After the late 1990s, the proportion of firms paying dual dividends or cash-only dividends has risen gradually while the percentage of firms paying stock-only dividends has fallen sharply. Dividend premiums are related to not only the dividend decision, but also dividend changes and the magnitude of dividend changes. When one type of dividend premium (i.e. cash dividend) is high, managers are more likely to issue the same type of dividend and less likely to issue the other type of dividend (i.e. stock dividend). Firms are more likely to increase cash dividends when cash dividend premiums are high and raise the magnitudes of cash and stock dividends when cash and stock dividend premiums are high, respectively. Catering persists even after controlling for the effect of a firm’s characteristics, risk, external policy, and macroeconomic situations. Other important determinants of the decision to pay or change dividends are also identified herein. This study offers a comprehensive understanding of all types of dividend payout practices in the Taiwan stock market.

論文審定書 i

致謝辭 ii

摘要 iii

Abstract iv

Content Index v

List of Figures viii

List of Tables ix

Chapter 1 Introduction 1
1.1 Background and Motivation 1
1.2 Purposes and Research Questions 5
1.3 Organization of This Research 7

Chapter 2 Literature Review 8
2.1 Pattern of Dividend Payout 8
2.2 Catering Theory 10
2.3 Other Determinants of Dividends 14

Chapter 3 Presence of Dividend Catering 18
3.1 Hypothesis 18
3.2 Sample 19
3.3 Measurement of Variables 20

Chapter 4 Catering Effects in Corporate Dividend Policy 25
4.1 Patterns of Various Dividend Payers 25
4.2 Descriptive Statistics 27
4.3 Multinomial Logistic Regression of the Cash-Dividend-Only Decision on the Three Types of Dividend Premiums 33
4.4 Multinomial Logistic Regression of the Stock-Dividend-Only Decision on the Three Types of Dividend Premiums 37
4.5 Multinomial Logistic Regression of the Dual Dividend Decision on the Three Types of Dividend Premiums 40
4.6 Multinomial Logistic Regression of the Cash Dividend Decision on Cash Dividend Premiums 40
4.7 Robustness Checks 44
4.7.1 Alternative Proxy on Investor Sentiment for Dividends 45
4.7.2 Do Firms Cater to Investors’ Preference for Low-Priced Firms? 51
4.7.3 Alternative Proxy for Maturity 53

Chapter 5 Extended Catering Theory 58
5.1 Hypothesis 58
5.2 Sample 59
5.3 Method and Measurement 60

Chapter 6 Dividend Changes and Catering Incentives 64
6.1 Descriptive Statistics 64
6.2 Logistic Regression Results for the Decision to Change Dividends and the Magnitude of Dividend Changes 69
6.3 Robustness Checks 72
6.3.1 Alternative Proxy on Investor Sentiment for Dividends 73
6.3.2 Alternative Proxy for Growth Opportunities and Maturity 73
6.3.3 Catering to High-Level Dividend Premiums 81

Chapter 7 Conclusion and Future Study 85
7.1 Conclusion 85
7.2 Future Study 87

References 89

Allen, F., Michaely, R., 2003. Dividend policy. In: Constantinides, G., Harris, M., Stulz, R. (Eds.), Handbook of the Economics of Finance. North-Holland, Amsterdam, pp. 337-429.
Anthony, J.H., Ramesh, K. 1992. Association between accounting performance measures and stock prices. Journal of Accounting and Economics 15, 203-227.
Baker, M., Greenwood, R., Wurgler, J., 2009. Catering through nominal share prices. Journal of Finance 64, 2559-2590.
Baker, M., Wurgler, J., 2004a. A catering theory of dividends. Journal of Finance 59, 1125-1165.
Baker, M., Wurgler, J., 2004b. Appearing and disappearing dividends: The link to catering incentives. Journal of Financial Economics 73, 271-288.
Bancel, F., Bhattacharyya, N., Mittoo, U.R., 2005. Cross-country determinants of payout policy: A survey of European firms. ESCP-EAP Working Paper.
Berkowitz, D., Pistor, K., Richard, J.F., 2003. Economic development, legality and the transplant effect. European Economic Review 47, 165-195.
Brealey, R.A., Myers, S.C., 2002. Principles of corporate finance, Irwin/McGraw-Hill, Boston.
Campbell, J.Y., Lettau, M., Malkiel, B.G., Xu, Y., 2001. Have individual stocks become more volatile? An empirical exploration of idiosyncratic risk. Journal of Finance 56, 1-44.
Chetty, R., Saez, E., 2004. Dividend taxes and corporate behavior: Evidence from the 2003 dividend tax cut. NBER Working Paper.
Coffee, J.C., 1999. Privatization and corporate governance: The lessons from securities market failure. Journal of Corporation Law 25, 1-39.
Coffee, J.C., 2001. The rise of dispersed ownership: The roles of law and the state in the separation of ownership and control. The Yale Law Journal 111, 1-82.
DeAngelo, H., DeAngelo, L., 2006. The irrelevance of the MM dividend irrelevance theorem. Journal of Financial Economics 79, 293-316.
DeAngelo, H., DeAngelo, L., Skinner, D., 2004. Are dividends disappearing? Dividend concentration and the consolidation of earnings. Journal of Financial Economics 72, 425-456.
DeAngelo, H., DeAngelo, L., Stulz, R.M., 2006. Dividend policy and the earned/contributed capital mix: A test of the lifecycle theory. Journal of Financial Economics 81, 227-254.
Denis, D.J., Osobov, I., 2008. Why do firms pay dividends? International evidence on the determinants of dividend policy. Journal of Financial Economics 89, 62-82.
Eije, H.V., Megginson, W.L., 2008. Dividends and share repurchases in the European Union. Journal of Financial Economics 89, 347-374.
Fama, E., French, K., 2001. Disappearing dividends: Changing firm characteristics or lower propensity to pay? Journal of Financial Economics 60, 3-43.
Fatemi, A., Bildik, R., 2009. Yes, dividends are disappearing: worldwide evidence. DePaul University Working Paper.
Ferris, S.P., Jayaraman, N., Sabherwal, S., 2009. Catering effects in corporate dividend policy: The international evidence. Journal of Banking and Finance 33, 1730-1738.
Ferris, S.P., Sen, N., Yui, H.P., 2006. God save the queen and her dividends: Corporate payouts in the United Kingdom. Journal of Business 79, 1149-1173.
Gemmill, G., 2005. Catering for dividends by stripping mutual-fund portfolios. Warwick Business School Working Paper.
Glushkov, D., Salavei, K., 2009. Importance of catering incentives for growth dynamics. SSRN Working Paper.
Grinstein, Y., Michaely, R., 2005. Institutional holdings and payout policy. Journal of Finance 60, 1389-1426.
Grullon, G., Michaely, R., Swaminathan, B., 2002. Are dividend changes a sign of firm maturity. Journal of Business 75, 387-424.
Hoberg, G., Prabhala, N.R., 2009. Dividends policy, risk, and catering. Review of Financial Studies 22, 79-116.
Huang, C.S., You, C.F., Lin, S.H., 2009. Cash dividends, stock dividends and subsequent earnings growth. Pacific-Basin Finance Journal 17, 594-610.
Jensen, M., 1986. Agency costs of free cash flow, corporate finance, and takeovers. American Economic Review 76, 323-329.
Jong, A.D., Duca, E., Dutordoir, M., 2010. Do convertible bond issuers cater to investor demand? SSRN Working Paper.
Julio, B., Ikenberry, D.L., 2004. Reappearing dividends. Journal of Applied Corporate Finance 16, 89-100.
Kalay, A., Kronlund, M., 2010. The market reaction to stock split announcements: Tests of information, liquidity, and catering hypotheses. SSRN Working Paper.
Kale, J.R., Kini, O., Payne, J.D., The dividend initiation decision of newly public firms: Some evidence on signaling with dividends. Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, forthcoming.
Korajczyk, R.A., Levy, A., 2003. Capital structure choice: Macroeconomic conditions and financial constraints. Journal of Financial Economics 68, 75-109.
La Porta, R., Lopez-de-Silanes, F., Shleifer, A., Vishny, R., 1997. Legal determinants of external capital. Journal of Finance 52, 1131-1150.
La Porta, R., Lopez-de-Silanes, F., Shleifer, A., Vishny, R., 1998. Law and finance. Journal of Political Economy 52, 1113-1155.
Lakonishok, J., Lev, B., 1987. Stock splits and stock dividends: Why, who, and when. Journal of Finance 42, 913-932.
Li, T.S., 1991. Stock dividends, equity right issues and the stock price behavior around the ex-right date: Theory and evidence. Business Intelligence Research 2, 1-40.
Li, W., Lie, E., 2006. Dividend changes and catering incentives. Journal of Financial Economics 80, 293–308.
Li, K., Zhao, X., 2008. Asymmetric information and dividend policy. Financial Management 37, 673-694.
Licht, A.N., Goldschmidt, C., Schwartz, S.H., 2005. Culture, law, and corporate governance. International Review of Law and Economics 25, 229-255.
Lintner, J., 1956. Distribution of incomes of corporations among dividends, retained earnings, and taxes. American Economic Review 56, 97-113.
Liu, M., 2008. Accruals and managerial operating decisions over the firm life cycle. Pennsylvania State University Working Paper.
Manconi, A., Massa, M., 2009. A servant to many masters: Competing shareholder preferences and limits to catering. EFA 2009 Bergen Meetings Paper; AFA 2010 Atlanta Meetings Paper.
Milonas, N.T., Travlos, N.G., Xiao, J.Z., Tan, C., 2006. The ex-dividend day stock price behavior in the Chinese stock market. Pacific-Basin Finance Journal 14, 155-174.
Petersen, M., 2009. Estimating standard errors in finance panel data sets: Comparing approaches. Review of Financial Studies 22, 435-480.
Pistor, K., Raiser, M., Gelfer, S., 2000. Law and finance in transition economies. The Economics of Transition 8, 325-368.
Polk, C., Sapienza, P., 2009. The stock market and corporate investment: A test of catering theory. Review of Financial Studies 22, 187-217.
Qian, B., Sudarsanam, S., 2007. Catering theory of corporate spinoffs: Empirical evidence from Europe. SSRN Working Paper.
Renneboog, L., Trojanowski, G., 2005. Patterns in payout policy and payout channel choice of UK firms in the 1990s. TILEC Discussion Paper.
Savov, S., Weber, M., 2006. Fundamentals or market movements: What drives the dividend decision? SSRN Working Paper.
Shao, L., Kwok, C.C.Y., Guedhami, O., 2010. National culture and dividend policy. Journal of International Business Studies 41, 1391-1414.
Skinner, D.J., 2008. The evolving relation between earnings, dividends, and stock repurchases. Journal of Financial Economics 87, 582-609.
Spamann, H., 2006. On the insignificance and/or endogenity of La Porta et al.’s ‘anti-director rights index’ under consistent coding. Harvard University Discussion Paper.
Taso, S.M., Lien, W.H., Liu, Y.T., 2010. Accrual anomaly over the firm life cycle. International Journal of Accounting Studies 51, 107-142.