| dc.description.abstract | This paper examines the dividend policy of Vietnamese listed firms on Ho Chi
Minh Stock Exchange (HOSE) and Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) over period 2003-
2009. Empirically, dividend payouts and other characteristics of firms are following and
influenced by the stages life cycle in which firm is located. The study employs the logical
proxy of life cycle stages, the earned/contributed capital mix measured by the ratio of
retained earnings relative to total equity (or total assets) (proposed by DeAngelo et al.
(2006), Fama and French (2001)) to evaluate its impact on Vietnamese firms’ dividend
policy. The results show that firms with high proportion of earned capital (retained
earnings) relative to contributed capital, larger size, lower leverage and high levels of
cash holdings have a tendency to pay higher dividends. Additionally, findings implicate
that firms that are in higher growth, proxied by market-to-book ratio, are likely to be
lower dividend payers. In the regression, the earned/contributed capital mix shows a
quantitatively greater impact than the measures of growth opportunities and profitability.
Besides, signaling characteristics of dividends play some roles in determining the
dividend payouts of companies. Collectively, evidence is in line with the life cycle
hypotheses. Further research and development on dividend policy in the context of
Vietnam in general specifically may be stemmed from this study. | en_US |
