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Dividend payout is one of financial options that Saccos consider as part of the key performance indicators for Saccos. Deposit taking Saccos in Kenya have faced numerous challenges namely, governance, managerial and operational such that the performance of a number of them continues to be sub optimal according to the report by SASRA. Therefore, this study sought to examine the influence of board characteristics on dividend policy of deposit taking Saccos in Kenya under guidance by agency cost theory. The study utelized causal design and descriptive survey design. The targeted population was 403 stakeholders sampling 201 through stratified simple random sampling. The sacco directors/chairpersons and the CFO/CEOs formed unit of analysis. Closed ended questionnaires were applied for primary data. A list of 20 Saccos in Starehe Sub County, Nairobi County were basis for pilot test to establish reliability and validity of research instruments. Cronbach Alpha was employed to ascertain reliability, whereas content and construct validity were utilized to attain validity. The data underwent analysis through the application of descriptive as well as inferential statistics. The investigation ensured that the assumptions of linear regression were satisfied before conducting numerous linear regressions. Tables were used to present data. The results indicated a positive significant association between board characteristics practices and dividend policy P:0.000<0.05 hence conclusive that deposit-taking Saccos in Kenya focused on board characteristics as envisaged. The study recommended that Sacco’s should diverse the board features to ensure they accommodate the dividend policy framework. 

There has always been controversy among researchers over how dividend policies affect share prices, and this equivocal relationship varies throughout international markets. This study is set to examine the relation between share prices and number of dividend policy and profitability variables. Based on the information from five insurance companies that are listed on Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) over the period 2014 and 2022, findings indicates that 55.3% of stock prices could be explained by factors related to profitability and dividend policy. The relationship between stock price, as a dependent variable, and earnings per share (EPS), dividend yield (DY), earning to price ratio (EP), risk premium (RP), and retention ratio (RR), as independent variables, was investigated in this study using OLS regression approach. The results of the regression analysis demonstrated a significant direct relationship between stock price and earnings per share (EPS), suggesting that investors choose highly profitable shares. At the 99% confidence level, the earnings to price ratio (EP) likewise revealed a statistically significant direct relationship with the stock price. At 90% confidence level, risk premium (RP) also shown a substantial direct relationship. The only variable that significantly correlated negatively with share prices was dividend yield (DY), suggesting that investors choose more stable payouts over uncertain future capital gains. Conversely, the retention ratio (RR) demonstrated a negligible direct impact on share prices.  

This study aims to examine dividend policies for companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange during the 2018-2022 period. Agency theory argues that dividend policy can reduce agency costs and reduce agency conflicts. The percentage of institutional ownership is used as a proxy for agency costs and can be used as a mechanism for lowering agency conflict. The total sample is 44 companies listed on the IDX. The estimation uses the pooling data method and 3SLS. This research develops a simultaneous system econometric model. This study argues that high institutional ownership leads to higher agency conflict, as management and institutions collaborate to prioritize their interests over other shareholders. Conversely, low institutional ownership leads to disputes between management, low institutional, and public shareholders. The entrenchment argument predicts higher conflict in high institutional ownership, while the convergence argument predicts common agency conflict in common institutional ownership.

The fact that publicly traded companies incur substantial costs when issuing new equity has been extensively documented in the empirical finance literature. In particular, numerous studies show that seasoned equity offerings (SEOs) tend to be priced significantly below prevailing market prices, thereby causing issuers to leave money on the table. Offer price discounting is an indirect flotation cost borne by pre-SEO shareholders that, according to extant theoretical and empirical research, arises due to asymmetric information. A heretofore unrelated literature argues that corporate multinationalism, i.e., establishing operations in one or more foreign countries, exacerbates the asymmetric information problem via greater costs to shareholders of monitoring the activities and performance of foreign subsidiaries. Motivated by these lines of thought, I investigate the relation between SEO discounting and corporate multinationalism. Using a sample of SEOs completed by U.S. firms between 1998 and 2016, I show that offer price discounting is significantly higher in offerings conducted by multinational firms relative to those conducted by purely domestic firms after controlling for known determinants of SEO discounts. This effect is stronger for multinational firms with foreign subsidiaries spread across a greater number of countries and weaker for multinationals that hire a high-reputation underwriter to lead the underwriting syndicate. These findings suggest that asymmetric information costs borne by seasoned equity issuers are increasing in the geographic scope of a firm’s operations, which can be mitigated by certification from a highly reputed lead underwriter.

Previous study finds that the firms with inferior growth options tend to issue callable bonds. Typically, these firms are characterized by stock underperformance. Previous study also finds that the floating rate as a superior alternative to the call provision, which is restrictive, when the interest rates are likely to fall. We study the long-term stock performance of floating rate notes (FRNs) issuing firms, issued when the interest rates are high. Stock overperformance would suggest floating rate as a preferred choice by the firms with high growth options rather the call option. We find that the FRNs are generally investment grade with extremely rare presence of a call option. We perform the analysis using Buy and hold abnormal return (BHAR) as the proxy for the long-term stock overperformance/underperformance. A sample of floating rate notes issued (1654) from 1992 to 2007, a period of high interest rates, reveals significant overperformance by the floating rate notes issuing firms in the high-rate paradigm. High growth firms, in the high-rate environment, significantly benefit from the floating rate provision which is less restrictive and less costly than the call option, which typically provides call protection period and pays a call premium. Floating rate provision better mitigates the interest rate risk for the firms in the high-rate environment. We find that the smaller, high growth, higher leverage, less profitable firms with greater agency issues benefit more from issuing FRNs in the high-rate environment. Our study has relevance to the stock portfolio construction and performance. We also perform a comparative analysis using the sample of floating rate notes issued (270) during 2008 to 2018, a period of low interest rates, and find stock underperformance. The implications are that the call option likely is a better choice for the firm since the firm preserves the right to forego exercising the option.

The aim of this study is to investigate the moderating role of cultural dimensions in the relationship between corporate governance mechanisms and financial performance, examining a sample of 9,316 companies from 47 countries. A mixed dataset with variables extracted at the company and country levels is statistically analysed, while multilevel robust regressions with random intercept modelling are used for econometric estimations. Based on information for the period 2020-2022, the moderating effects of three of the six cultural dimensions developed by Hofstede are examined at specific times of multiple constraints that could act as a stress factor in management decisions. The results show that the corporate governance-performance nexus is stronger in countries orientated toward masculinity, short-term benefits, and indulgence. Combining national cultural values, the national business system framework, agency, stakeholder, and legitimacy theories, the research provides nuanced empirical evidence of cultural tingent for academics and practitioners. The investigation shapes an original perspective, highlighting the need for culturally orientated corporate governance mechanisms. This approach complements the body of literature on corporate governance, financial performance, and national culture by demonstrating that the interaction between the governance score and cultural dimensions may play a pivotal role in shaping financial performance. Muchmore, the findings have valuable entrepreneurial implications for investors in resource allocation, while managers could broaden their scenarios for decision-making purposes, especially when companies face stakeholders from diverse cultural backgrounds.

This research examined the influence of board tenure diversity (BTD) on shareholder value creation (SVC) among 95 non-financial companies listed in South Africa. A quantitative quasi-experimental research design was employed. The data collection sources included integrated annual reports, the Who Owns Whom database and the Osiris database. The study used a fixed effects model to test the hypotheses.  BTD  was measured using the Blau index (BI_BTD), average tenure (AVE_TBM), standard deviation (SD_TBM), and coefficient of variation for tenure board members (TBM), as well as dummies for short tenured boards  (AVE_TBM  3) and long tenured boards (AVE_TBM 10)  The proxies of SVC  included standard market value added (SMVA), market-to-book ratio (MTB) and Tobin’s Q (TBQ). The results of curvilinear quadratic models indicate that all BTD  measures had both positive and negative influences on all SVC measures, highlighting an inverted  U-shaped effect. The inverted U-shape effect reflects a trade-off between beneficial knowledge accumulation and harmful entrenchment or coordination problems as board tenure diversity increases beyond an optimal level. Given the inverted  U-shaped effect, many proposals for corporate governance reform explicitly stress the importance of limiting board tenure.

This study investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on executive remuneration structures within South African transportation companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, while also examining shifts in the intangible components of remuneration offered to employees. Employing a predominantly quantitative research design, the study analyses remuneration data to evaluate structural changes post-pandemic. Additionally, a qualitative analysis was conducted on corporate disclosures to assess the evolving nature of intangible remuneration elements. The findings reveal a notable shift in remuneration composition, with a greater proportion of executive compensation attributed to variable elements such as bonuses and short-term incentives, accompanied by a relative decline in base salaries. Moreover, companies demonstrated increased sensitivity to employee well-being, adopting flexible work arrangements and prioritising health and safety. These outcomes suggest that the pandemic catalysed both structural and philosophical changes in remuneration practices. The study contributes to the existing body of knowledge by offering a sector-specific analysis of how global disruptions can reshape compensation frameworks, thereby informing future corporate governance and human resource strategies.

This study investigates the relationship between corporate governance and firm performance in the Bangladeshi insurance sector, focusing on variables like board independence, female directors, audit committee size, leverage, and firm age. Using a sample of 42 insurance firms from 2017 to 2021, regression analysis is employed to assess these relationships. The findings show that board independence positively impacts performance, while audit committee size, leverage, and firm age have negative effects. Female directors exhibit a marginal but weak positive influence. This research contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence from a developing economy, where limited studies exist. It also offers insights into governance practices in emerging markets. The implications suggest that policymakers and corporate leaders in Bangladesh should prioritize enhancing board independence, managing leverage, and promoting gender diversity to improve performance. Future research could explore causal relationships and extend the analysis to other sectors or emerging markets, considering cultural and regulatory factors.

Capital structure defined by the proportion of debt and equity financing has always been an important component in managerial finance due to its relative importance in measuring a company's risk. Arguably, it is among the most controversial topics in corporate finance and has gain recent recognition of its importance when considering the emergence of different sources of financing across industry. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between capital structure and a firm's profitability in other to determine whether a significant connection exists between how a firm finances its operations and its financial performance. A comprehensive Lilliefors’s, Kolmogorov Smirnov and Chi square tests analysis were utilised for a sample of 23 peer reviewed journal articles across various industries. The findings revealed that capital structure cannot be used to explain variations in profitability and profitability is independent of capital structure. This paper contributes to the ongoing debate on optimal capital structure by strengthening methodological rigor and some of the existing theories on how capital structure can be used to maximise profitability. It may be very helpful for further studies to first establish the direction of impact and the size effect of the independent variables.