Board Characteristics and Dividend Payout: Evidence from Malaysian Public Listed Companies

Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to examine the relationships between board characteristics and dividend payout among the Malaysian public listed companies. A sample of 164 Malaysian companies for the year 2013 was selected from the Bursa Malaysia website. This paper examines the relationships between independent non-executive directors,board size, CEO, proportion of family member on board and concentrated ownerships and dividend payout among the Malaysian listed companies. The findings show that concentrated ownership  is found to be positive and significant in influencing the dividend payout. But, the independent director is also found to be significant in influencing the dividend payout in negative direction. The finding of this study will be worthy for the companies, investors as well as the policy makers and regulators in Malaysia by providing information on the effectiveness of some corporate governance mechanisms that influence the firm dividend payout  after the implementation of revised Code on Corporate Governance 2012 to make important recommendations for the improvement in the corporate governance practices in Malaysia.

Keywords: Dividend payout, Corporate Governance, Ownership Structure, CEO