| Peer-Reviewed

Does Cost Stickiness Affect the Cash Dividend Policy: Empirical Evidence from China

Received: 27 December 2021    Accepted: 19 January 2022    Published: 28 January 2022
Views:       Downloads:
Abstract

The dividend policy has long been of interest among researchers that study financial management and corporate finance. Previous literatures mainly analyzed based on the agency theory, free cash flow theory, major shareholder benefit transfer channel or others, the impact of cost stickiness has not been considered in the framework. Using the data of listed companies in China from 2007 to 2017, this paper examines the effect of cost stickiness on cash dividend policy based on managers’ self-interest. The result shows that firms with stickier cost pay lower cash dividends than their peers. Corporate governance will impact the relation between cost stickiness and cash dividend payouts: when corporate governance is worse, the impact of cost stickiness on cash dividend payouts is great as managers of firms with more cash holdings are willing to keep cash for self-use rather than pay dividends. Further, this paper provides evidence that cost stickiness affects cash dividends by worsening corporate governance. This paper not only contributes to accounting literature on cost stickiness, but also sheds new light on the determinants of cash dividends policy.

Published in Journal of Finance and Accounting (Volume 10, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.jfa.20221001.15
Page(s) 44-57
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Corporate Governance, Cash Dividend Policy, Cost Stickiness, Cash Holdings

References
[1] Miller, M., & Modigliani, F. (1961). Dividend Policy, Growth, and the Valuation of Shares. The Journal of Business, 34 (4), 411-433. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/294442.
[2] Easterbrook, F. H. (1984). Two Agency-Cost Explanations of Dividends. The American Economic Review, 74 (4), 650-659. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1805130.
[3] Jensen, M. C. (1986). Agency Costs of Free Cash Flow, Corporate Finance, and Takeovers. American Economic Review, 76 (2), 323-329. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1818789.
[4] Lang, L., & Litzenberger, R. H. (1989). Dividend Announcements: Cash Flow Signalling vs. Free Cash Flow Hypothesis?. Journal of Financial Economics, 24 (1), 181–191. https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-405X(89)90077-9.
[5] DeAngelo, H., DeAngelo, L., & Stulz, R. M. (2006). Dividend Policy and the Earned/Contributed Capital Mix: A Test of the Life-cycle Theory. Journal of Financial Economics, 81 (2), 227-254. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2005.07.005.
[6] DeAngelo, H., & DeAngelo, L. (2008). Reply to: Dividend Policy: Reconciling DD with MM. Journal of Financial Economics, 87 (2), 532-533. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2007.10.001.
[7] Anderson, M. C., Banker, R. D., & Janakiraman, S. N. (2003). Are Selling, General, and Administrative Costs “Sticky”?. Journal of Accounting Research, 41 (1), 47-63. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-679X.00095.
[8] Banker, R. D., Byzalov, D., Fang, S., & Yi, L. (2017). Cost Management Research. Journal of Management Accounting Research, 30 (3), 187-209. https://doi.org/10.2308/jmar-51965.
[9] Dierynck, B., Landsman, W. R., & Renders, A. (2012). Do Managerial Incentives Drive Cost Behavior? Evidence about the Role of the Zero Earnings Benchmark for Labor Cost Behavior in Belgian Private Firms. The Accounting Review, 87 (4), 1219-1246. https://doi.org/10.2308/accr-50153.
[10] Shleifer, A., & Vishny, R. W. (1986). Large Shareholders and Corporate Control. Scholarly Articles, 94 (3), 461-488. https://doi.org/10.1086/261385.
[11] Chen, C. X., Lu, H., & Sougiannis, T. (2012). The Agency Problem, Corporate Governance, and the Asymmetrical Behavior of Selling, General, and Administrative Costs. Contemporary Accounting Research, 29 (1), 252-282. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1911-3846.2011.01094.x.
[12] Fama, E. F., & French, K. R. (1995). Size and Book-to-Market Factors in Earnings and Returns. Journal of Finance, 50 (1), 131-155. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6261.1995.tb05169.x.
[13] Fairchild, R., Guney, Y., & Thanatawee, Y. (2014). Corporate Dividend Policy in Thailand: Theory and Evidence. International Review of Financial Analysis, 31 (1), 129-151. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.irfa.2013.10.006.
[14] Noreen, E., & Soderstrom, N. (1994). Are Overhead Costs Strictly Proportional to Activity?: Evidence from Hospital Departments. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 17 (1-2), 255-278. https://doi.org/10.1016/0165-4101(94)90012-4.
[15] Noreen, E., & Soderstrom, N. (1997). The Accuracy of Proportional Cost Models: Evidence from Hospital Service Departments. Review of Accounting Studies, 2, 89–114. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1018325711417.
[16] Balakrishnan, R., & Gruca, T. S. (2008). Cost Stickiness and Core Competency: A Note. Contemporary Accounting Research, 25 (4), 993-1006.http:// doi.org/10.1506/car.25.4.2.
[17] Subramaniam, C., & Weidenmier, M. L. (2016). Additional Evidence on the Sticky Behavior of Costs. Advances in Management Accounting, 26, 275-305. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1474-787120150000026006.
[18] Calleja, K., Steliaros, M., & Thomas, D. C. (2006). A Note on Cost Stickiness: Some International Comparisons. Management Accounting Research, 17 (2), 127-140. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.mar.2006.02.001.
[19] Mei, D. (2019). Research on the Interaction Effect of Financing Constraint and Internal Control on Cost Stickiness – Based on the Evidence of Chinese Listed Manufacturing Companies from 2011 to 2016. Review of Economy and Management, 35 (05), 58-70. https://dx.doi.org/10.13962/j.cnki.37-1486/f.2019.05.006.
[20] Weiss, D. (2010). Cost Behavior and Analysts’ Earnings Forecasts. The Accounting Review, 85 (4), 1441-1471. https://doi.org/10.2308/accr.2010.85.4.1441.
[21] Wu, Y. Y., & Cai, J. L. (2017). Influence of Cost Stickiness on Accounting Conservatism – Based on the Asymmetric Perspective of Earnings Response. Journal of Southeast University (Philosophy and Social Science), 19 (06), 54-61+147. https://dx.doi.org/10.13916/j.cnki.issn1671-511x.2017.06.007.
[22] Banker, R. D., & Chen, T. L. (2006). Labor Market Characteristics and Cross-Country Differences in Cost Stickiness. SSRN Electronic Journal, http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.921419.
[23] Hartlieb, S., Eierle, B., & Loy, T. R. (2020). Does Community Social Capital Affect Asymmetric Cost Behaviour?. Management Accounting Research, 46, 100640. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mar.2019.02.002.
[24] Harford, J., Mansi, S. A., & Maxwell, W. F. (2008). Corporate Governance and Firm Cash Holdings in the US. Journal of Financial Economics, 87 (3), 535-555. https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.jfineco.2007.04.002.
[25] Chay, J. B., & Suh, J. (2009). Payout Policy and Cash-Flow Uncertainty. Journal of Financial Economics, 93 (1), 88-107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2008.12.001.
[26] Kama, I., & Weiss, D. (2013). Do Earnings Targets and Managerial Incentives Affect Sticky Costs? Journal of Accounting Research, 51 (1), 201–224. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-679x.2012.00471.x.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Liu Lin, Wang Jinfeng, Cao Rui. (2022). Does Cost Stickiness Affect the Cash Dividend Policy: Empirical Evidence from China. Journal of Finance and Accounting, 10(1), 44-57. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jfa.20221001.15

    Copy | Download

    ACS Style

    Liu Lin; Wang Jinfeng; Cao Rui. Does Cost Stickiness Affect the Cash Dividend Policy: Empirical Evidence from China. J. Finance Account. 2022, 10(1), 44-57. doi: 10.11648/j.jfa.20221001.15

    Copy | Download

    AMA Style

    Liu Lin, Wang Jinfeng, Cao Rui. Does Cost Stickiness Affect the Cash Dividend Policy: Empirical Evidence from China. J Finance Account. 2022;10(1):44-57. doi: 10.11648/j.jfa.20221001.15

    Copy | Download

  • @article{10.11648/j.jfa.20221001.15,
      author = {Liu Lin and Wang Jinfeng and Cao Rui},
      title = {Does Cost Stickiness Affect the Cash Dividend Policy: Empirical Evidence from China},
      journal = {Journal of Finance and Accounting},
      volume = {10},
      number = {1},
      pages = {44-57},
      doi = {10.11648/j.jfa.20221001.15},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jfa.20221001.15},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jfa.20221001.15},
      abstract = {The dividend policy has long been of interest among researchers that study financial management and corporate finance. Previous literatures mainly analyzed based on the agency theory, free cash flow theory, major shareholder benefit transfer channel or others, the impact of cost stickiness has not been considered in the framework. Using the data of listed companies in China from 2007 to 2017, this paper examines the effect of cost stickiness on cash dividend policy based on managers’ self-interest. The result shows that firms with stickier cost pay lower cash dividends than their peers. Corporate governance will impact the relation between cost stickiness and cash dividend payouts: when corporate governance is worse, the impact of cost stickiness on cash dividend payouts is great as managers of firms with more cash holdings are willing to keep cash for self-use rather than pay dividends. Further, this paper provides evidence that cost stickiness affects cash dividends by worsening corporate governance. This paper not only contributes to accounting literature on cost stickiness, but also sheds new light on the determinants of cash dividends policy.},
     year = {2022}
    }
    

    Copy | Download

  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Does Cost Stickiness Affect the Cash Dividend Policy: Empirical Evidence from China
    AU  - Liu Lin
    AU  - Wang Jinfeng
    AU  - Cao Rui
    Y1  - 2022/01/28
    PY  - 2022
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jfa.20221001.15
    DO  - 10.11648/j.jfa.20221001.15
    T2  - Journal of Finance and Accounting
    JF  - Journal of Finance and Accounting
    JO  - Journal of Finance and Accounting
    SP  - 44
    EP  - 57
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2330-7323
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jfa.20221001.15
    AB  - The dividend policy has long been of interest among researchers that study financial management and corporate finance. Previous literatures mainly analyzed based on the agency theory, free cash flow theory, major shareholder benefit transfer channel or others, the impact of cost stickiness has not been considered in the framework. Using the data of listed companies in China from 2007 to 2017, this paper examines the effect of cost stickiness on cash dividend policy based on managers’ self-interest. The result shows that firms with stickier cost pay lower cash dividends than their peers. Corporate governance will impact the relation between cost stickiness and cash dividend payouts: when corporate governance is worse, the impact of cost stickiness on cash dividend payouts is great as managers of firms with more cash holdings are willing to keep cash for self-use rather than pay dividends. Further, this paper provides evidence that cost stickiness affects cash dividends by worsening corporate governance. This paper not only contributes to accounting literature on cost stickiness, but also sheds new light on the determinants of cash dividends policy.
    VL  - 10
    IS  - 1
    ER  - 

    Copy | Download

Author Information
  • School of Economics and Management, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, China

  • School of Economics and Management, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, China

  • School of Economics and Management, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, China

  • Sections