Title: The impact of a cross-listing on dividend policy

Authors: Wissam Abdallah, Marc Goergen

Addresses: Lebanese American University, Lebanon. ' University of Sheffield Management School, UK European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI), Belgium

Abstract: This paper conducts a test of La Porta et al.|s (2000) outcome hypothesis on a sample of firms from 18 countries cross-listing on 19 foreign stock markets. La Porta et al.|s outcome hypothesis states that firms that are listed on a stock exchange with better investor rights pay higher dividends given that shareholders are able to make them disgorge more of their cash. Therefore, one expects firms that cross list on a market with better shareholder protection to increase their dividend payout after they cross-list. The results from the univariate and multivariate cluster analyses provide support for the outcome hypothesis. In particular, there is strong support for the hypothesis if the dividend payout ratio is measured by dividends over sales.

Keywords: cross-listing; corporate governance; corporate control; investor protection; dividend policy; stock markets; cluster analysis.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCG.2008.017650

International Journal of Corporate Governance, 2008 Vol.1 No.1, pp.49 - 72

Published online: 25 Mar 2008 *

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