Dividends Catering Around the World

Baker and Wurgler(2004) propose a new view on dividend policy called a catering theory of dividends. Managers cater to investors by paying dividends when investors put a stock price premium on payers, and by not paying when investors prefer nonpayer. We connect the catering theory and the difference in the market structure among countries, and want to know in which market structure managers are more willing to care about investors’ demand and then decide to pay dividends or not. First, our study indicates that the catering theory of dividends proposed by Baker and Wurgler (2004) exists around the world. Second, our study shows that managers in a country with a developed stock market, with higher protection and with lower tax advantage pay more attention to what investors desire on dividends, while managers in the higher ownership concentration group care less about investors demand