EMPIRICAL EXAMINATION OF THE CLASSICAL DIVIDEND POLICY THEORIES IN EU-28 COUNTRIES
EMPIRICAL EXAMINATION OF THE CLASSICAL DIVIDEND POLICY THEORIES IN EU-28 COUNTRIES

Summary/Abstract: Dividend policies and their impact on company value represent a subject which attracted strong academic interest, with many researchers bringing their contributions at solving the discussion based on the standard theory. The main objective of the paper is to revisit the classical dividend theories in the context of the EU-28 countries over a 9 year timeframe (2009-2017) which is an extension of previous studies on the topic over the same geographical zone. The motivation of the study is to identify those factors which determine the dividend decisions for the companies comprised in the sample we used and compare the results to the previous studies on the topic to see whether the classical theories still stand or there are shifts towards other factors. The results of the paper show that the lifecycle theory of dividends together with the pecking order theory and the available cashflow theory are still standing, and that both the accounting and market performance of the company have a significant impact on the level of dividends paid by the company.

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