Factors influencing on-market share repurchase decisions in Australia

2014 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 255-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Subba Reddy Yarram
Keyword(s):  
Market Share ◽  
Agency Cost ◽  
Share Repurchases ◽  
Board Independence ◽  
Agency Conflicts ◽  
Financial Policies ◽  
Significant Positive Association ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Financial Firms ◽  
Factors Influencing

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine factors influencing decisions to repurchase shares on-market in Australia. The present study also examines the role of board size, board independence and chief executive officer duality on the decision to repurchase shares on-market by Australian firms. Design/methodology/approach – This study blends the traditional motivations of share repurchases with the influences of governance. The sample consists of all non-financial firms included in the Australian All Ordinaries Index (AOI) for the period 2004-2010. The repurchase sample consists of 104 repurchases undertaken by 62 firms. A probit panel model is used to analyse the decision to repurchase shares on the market. To account for unobserved heterogeneity, random effects panel models are also used. Findings – Analyses of a sample of non-financial firms included in the AOI for the period 2004-2010 show that size is significantly positively correlated with the decision to repurchase shares, thus supporting the agency cost. Findings also support the undervaluation and signalling hypotheses. Similarly, there is evidence in support of the view that firms repurchase shares to reach their target optimal capital structure. The present study also finds a significant positive association between board independence and the decision to repurchase shares in Australia. Research limitations/implications – On-market share repurchases help firms to signal their future growth opportunities and resolve agency conflicts. Signals from repurchases also help markets discover the true fundamental values of firms. Governance plays an important role in improving the effectiveness of on-market share repurchases, as independent directors provide both monitoring and discipline which helps to ensure that firms have valid motivations in undertaking share repurchases. Practical implications – These findings have implications for capital restructuring and governance policies. Principle-based governance frameworks that prevail in countries like Australia work as well as rule-based governance. Originality/value – This study highlights the complementary roles that financial policies and corporate boards play in corporate governance. Independent boards ensure that firms pursue appropriate financial policies that help resolve agency conflicts and information asymmetry problems.

scholarly journals Does gender diversity on the board reduce agency cost? Evidence from Pakistan

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Amin ◽  
Ramiz Ur Rehman ◽  
Rizwan Ali ◽  
Collins G. Ntim
Keyword(s):  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Agency Cost ◽  
Agency Conflicts ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Listed Firms ◽  
Financial Firms ◽  
Female Directors ◽  
Board Gender Diversity ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This study aims to examine the effects of board gender diversity on agency costs in non-financial firms listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX). Design/methodology/approach Multiple regression analysis is used to determine the impact of board gender diversity on agency cost. The research used panel data consisting of 2,062 firm-year observations of 226 non-financial firms listed on the PSX from 2008 to 2019 to test the proposed hypothesis. In addition, the Blau and the Shannon indices were used to checking for robustness. Findings The results indicate that female presence on the board significantly reduces the agency cost and, hence, mitigates the principal-agent conflict. Moreover, consistent with the critical mass theory, it was found that boards with three or more female directors have a stronger impact on reducing the agency cost, as compared to two or fewer female directors on the board. Research limitations/implications The sample was restricted to non-financial firms listed on the PSX only; therefore, the results reflect the attributes of Pakistan’s business environment. A similar analysis in the context of other countries may generate different results. Practical implications The findings imply that female directors play an important role in reducing agency conflicts between shareholders and managers by enhancing monitoring through effective governance mechanisms. The policymakers, therefore, should focus on female career development and encourage professional training programmes to generate a fair, competitive environment for senior female management. Originality/value This study attempts to fill the literature gap in that no similar study covers the non-financial firms’ listed firms in Pakistan. The paper supports the reforms made by the code of corporate governance by making the placement of female directors mandatory on Pakistani corporate boards. Overall, support is provided for the view that regulators should favour gender quotas regarding the composition of the board management team of listed firms to reduce agency conflicts and gain shareholder confidence.

Determinants of corporate foreign exchange risk hedging

2014 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 176-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee-Lee Chong ◽  
Xiao-Jun Chang ◽  
Siow-Hooi Tan
Keyword(s):  
Exchange Rate ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Financial Derivatives ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Risk Hedging ◽  
Financial Firms ◽  
Hedging Strategies ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Financial Hedging ◽  
Exchange Risk

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to delineate the factors influencing the use of financial derivatives by non-financial firms in managing their exchange rate exposure. In total, 219 non-financial firms are surveyed in regard to their financial hedging decision. Design/methodology/approach – This study is conducted via a survey and the questionnaires were sent to the treasurers and financial controller of the firms. Descriptive analysis is employed to assess the profiles of the respondents. Then, factor analysis is carried out to determine the factors influencing the use of financial derivatives in Malaysia. Findings – The results indicate that the hedging decision of non-financial firms is influenced by their assertive level toward the market and regulators and also how flexible they are for derivative instruments. The intellectual capability that firms acquire to perform hedging strategies is also vital in influencing them to make hedging decision. Practical implications – The insights of this survey would assist and prepare firms to hedge their exchange rate risk by employing financial derivatives. Knowing the influences of firms' adoption of currency derivatives would allow policy makers to formulate their policies in boosting the liquidity of Malaysian derivative market. Originality/value – This study presents findings on the factors influencing the execution of financial hedging by non-financial firms in Malaysia. Survey data are used to seek for the feedback from the market players in order to provide empirical evidence on the corporate use of financial hedging.

Earnings smoothing around open-market share repurchases

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-80
Author(s):  
Hui Di ◽  
Dalia Marciukaityte
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Market Share ◽  
Discretionary Accruals ◽  
Cash Flows ◽  
Share Repurchases ◽  
Open Market ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Operating Cash Flows ◽  
Earnings Smoothing ◽  
Open Market Share Repurchases

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine whether firms engage in earnings decreasing management before share repurchases to mislead investors or to smooth earnings and improve earnings informativeness. Design/methodology/approach – The authors examine discretionary accruals and cash flows around open-market share repurchases. The primary discretionary accruals measure is industry- and performance-adjusted discretionary current accruals estimated from cash-flow data. Findings – Results show that, firms experience temporary increases in operating cash flows and use negative discretionary accruals to smooth earnings before share repurchases. Firms with the highest pre-repurchase cash flows use the lowest pre-repurchase discretionary accruals. Moreover, pre-repurchase discretionary accruals reflect expectations about future operating cash flows. Firms with the strongest deterioration in operating cash flows after repurchases use the lowest pre-repurchase discretionary accruals. These findings suggest that repurchasing firms use earnings management to increase smoothness and predictability of reported earnings rather than to mislead investors. Originality/value – This paper provides an alternative explanation to the finding of negative discretionary accruals before share repurchases. It adds to the literature on repurchases and earnings smoothing by showing that firms use earnings management around share repurchases to smooth earnings.

The association between dividend payout and outside directorships

2009 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Basil Al‐Najjar ◽  
Khaled Hussainey
Keyword(s):  
Board Of Directors ◽  
Conflicts Of Interest ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Agency Conflicts ◽  
Outside Directors ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Dividend Payout ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Financial Firms ◽  
The Board Of Directors

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine whether the number of outside directors on the board of directors and dividend payout are substitutes or complements mechanisms applied by UK firms to control agency conflicts of interest within the firm.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use tobit and logit regression models to examine the extent to which firms with a majority of outside directors on their boards experience significantly lower or higher dividend payout after controlling for insider ownership, profitability, liquidity, asset structure, business risk, firm size, firms' growth rate and borrowing ratio.FindingsBased on a sample of 400 non‐financial firms listed at London Stock Exchange for the period from 1991 to 2002, it was found that dividend payout is negatively associated with the number of outside directors on the board of directors.Originality/valueThe results suggest that firms pay lower dividends when higher number of outside directors is employed on the board. This evidence is consistent with the substitution hypothesis, which indicated that firms with weak corporate governance need to establish a reputation by paying dividends. In other words, dividends substitute for independent directors on the board. This finding offers novel insights to policy makers interested in agency conflicts of interest within the firm. It also provides evidence on the use of different substitute mechanisms for reducing agency costs.

Corporate governance and financial policies

2015 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 267-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Subba Reddy Yarram ◽  
Brian Dollery
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Dividend Policy ◽  
Agency Cost ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Independent Directors ◽  
Board Independence ◽  
Dividend Payout ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Significant Positive Influence

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of board structure on dividend policy of Australian corporate firms. It also considers the traditional explanations of corporate dividend choice, such as agency cost theory, signalling hypothesis, the life cycle hypothesis along with tax-based explanations of dividend policy. Design/methodology/approach – The final sample consists of 413 non-financial firms that are part of the All Ordinaries Index. The causal analysis was undertaken in three stages. In the first stage, the authors analyse the likelihood of paying dividends. And classify all firms as either dividend payers or non-payers. The authors then model this binary variable as a function of different sets of variables. In the second stage, the authors analyse the factors determining the magnitude of dividend payout by those firms that have paid a dividend. In contrast, stage three employs all firms – those which did not pay any dividend and those firms which paid a dividend. Findings – For the study period 2004-2009, this study finds that board independence has a significant positive influence on the dividend payout of Australian firms. This finding is consistent with the “outcome” model of La Porta et al. (2000). This study also finds that size has a significant positive influence on the dividend payout of Australian firms thus providing support for the agency cost view of dividend policy. Similarly, this study also finds support for the signalling hypothesis and the life cycle theory given the significant positive influence of profitability and the significant negative influence of current losses and growth opportunities on the dividend policy of Australian firms. Research limitations/implications – The findings of the study are robust with to alternative measures of variables employed and are not influenced by the global financial crisis. However, this study did not consider the possible endogenous and multiple relationships between dividends, debt, profitability, cash holdings and governance structures given the limited study period considered. Practical implications – This study finds that board independence has a significant positive influence on the dividend behaviour of Australian firms. This suggests that dividends and independent directors play complementary governance roles. While dividends provide the monitoring and disciplinary roles, independent directors act as catalysts for enhancing effective board functioning. These findings have implications for corporate governance policies and the payout policies. Originality/value – Though the governance role of dividends has long been recognized in the literature (Easterbrook, 1984; Jensen, 1986), very few studies analyse the influence of board characteristics on the decision to pay dividends in Australia. Given the distinct Australian setting where the tax imputation system allows companies to pay franked dividends to domestic investors, this study provides evidence on the interaction of corporate and dividend policies. This study finds that dividend polices are influenced by percentage franking of dividends. This study also finds that board independence has a significant positive influence on the dividend policy of Australian firms.

scholarly journals Investigating the Impact of Board of Directors on Accounting Conservatism in Kuwait

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 46
Author(s):  
Mejbel Al-Saidi
Keyword(s):  
Boards Of Directors ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Accounting Conservatism ◽  
Board Independence ◽  
Agency Conflicts ◽  
Listed Firms ◽  
Independent Variables ◽  
Financial Firms ◽  
Kuwait Stock Exchange ◽  
The Impact

This study aims to study the influence of boards of directors on the accounting conservatism of non-financial listed firms in Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE). According to agency theory, accounting conservatism and boards of directors can be considered effective mechanisms for reducing agency conflicts, thereby protecting the interests of investors that used the financial information while also increasing firms’ performance and value. This study sought to build a link between accounting conservatism and boards of directors by using a sample of 87 non-financial firms listed on the KSE at the end of 2019. The study used three independent variables (i.e., board size, board independence, and family directors) and found that none affected accounting conservatism. This study contributes to the literature by identifying the impact of boards of directors on accounting conservatism in Kuwait as no work has been done in this area before.

Creditors' governance, information asymmetry and debt diversification: evidence from India

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nemiraja Jadiyappa ◽  
Garima Sisodia ◽  
Anto Joseph ◽  
Santosh Shrivastsava ◽  
Pavana Jyothi
Keyword(s):  
Information Asymmetry ◽  
Univariate Analysis ◽  
Supporting Evidence ◽  
Financial Policies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Financial Firms ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Lending Decisions

PurposeThe governing role of bank-appointed directors (BADs) on the boards of non-financial firms has a potential to reduce information asymmetry between the firm and non-bank lenders. This should increase the confidence of other creditors in firm activities, thus performing the certification role. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the certification role of BADs.Design/methodology/approachThe authors test their hypotheses by using a panel of Indian non-financial firms. Our approach involves examining whether there is a significant difference in the number of different debt sources, the dispersion of debt among different debt sources, and leverage for BAD and Non_BAD Firms. The authors use univariate analysis and multivariate regression models to test the difference.FindingsThe authors find that firms with BADs on their board have (1) access to a higher number of different debt sources, (2) debt distributed evenly among different sources and (3) a higher debt ratio. Overall, our study provides supporting evidence for the certification role that BADs play on the boards of non-financial firms.Originality/valueThe authors contribute to the literature in two aspects. First, to the best of our knowledge, this is the only study that examines the effect of the governing role of banks on the lending decisions of non-bank lenders. Second, our study is associated with the growing body of the governance literature in the emerging markets context by examining the interaction of financial policies and governance in an institutional framework, which is very different from that of the developed world.

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