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Short‐selling constraints and corporate payout policy
Author(s) -
Chen Hang,
Zhu Yushu,
Chang Liang
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
accounting and finance
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.645
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1467-629X
pISSN - 0810-5391
DOI - 10.1111/acfi.12314
Subject(s) - share repurchase , business , dividend , constraint (computer aided design) , dividend payout ratio , cash , monetary economics , stock (firearms) , dividend policy , finance , corporate governance , economics , shareholder , mechanical engineering , engineering
This study shows that managers adjust corporate payout policies to counteract intensified short‐selling pressures following the removal of a short‐selling constraint. We use a controlled experiment, the Regulation SHO pilot program, to find that changing the short‐selling rule brings small companies to increase cash dividends, but not to repurchase more shares. Because paying dividends is costly, it is acknowledged as a more reliable signal of stock undervaluation than share repurchase. While our evidence suggests that companies select this payout strategy to deter predatory short sellers, it also shows that a short‐selling activity has a causal effect on corporate payout decisions.