Abstract:
In recent years, stock dividends ratio is getting higher. How does listed company make decisions on stock dividends plan？ We explore the way of catering in manager's decision-making from internal and external angles. We conclude that: (1) From the internal, manager chooses own company's nominal price as the frame of reference in decision-making. Nominal price positively affects manager's intention of giving stock dividends and actual stock dividends ratio, which means that manager caters investor's nominal price illusion. (2) From the external, manager chooses other companies' stock dividends ratio as the frame of reference in decision-making. Peers' average ratio positively affects manager's intention of giving stock dividends and actual stock dividends ratio, which means that manager caters investor's reference point effect. (3) Nominal price and peers' ratio both positively affect manager's intention of giving stock dividends and actual stock dividends ratio. And, there exists substitution effect between these two frames of reference. These results imply that, to optimize the utility of decision, manager takes internal and external frame of reference into account simultaneously and has the incentive of dual catering. This paper expands the catering theory and provides new evidence for reference point theory. This paper fully reveals the mechanism of listed company's decision-making on stock dividends and has important regulation implication.
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