The capital structure and the dividend policy of family firms

Helmut Pernsteiner

Abstract


This paper sheds light on the capital structure and the dividend policy of family firms. From a  theoretical point of view it can be shown that agency conflicts in family firms and therefore their financing decisions are affected by family specific factors. Our analysis, however, shows no clear evidence that family influence leads to (1) more or less leverage and (2) higher or lower dividend payments by family firms compared to their non-family  counterparts. The same holds true for empirical studies which present mixed results concerning the leverage and payout propensity of these companies. Finally, factors are addressed which could be held responsible for this ambiguous empirical evidence.

Keywords


family firms; divident policy; corporate finance

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References


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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17951/h.2013.47.4.95
Date of publication: 2015-07-23 22:45:59
Date of submission: 2015-07-23 20:00:51


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