기업지배구조와 미래 경영성과가 자사주매입과 중간배당에 미치는 영향에 관한 연구

Interim dividend and share repurchases are ways of distributing additional income by which corporations disburse surplus cash to their shareholders. In practice, some firms repurchase their stocks while other firms use the interim dividend as an additional method of cash payout. But few studies have examined, especially using Korean data, why some firms use stock repurchase while other firms use interim dividends. This study examines differences of the characteristics found between interim dividend firms and stock repurchase firms. Our research provides a number of new results on the differences between repurchase and interim dividend as an additional cash distribution method. Our study focuses on corporate governance and firm's future performance. For the purpose of this study, the researchers studied firms which use either stock repurchase or interim dividend only. The firms which use both stock repurchase and interim dividend at the same time were excluded. 133 firms which repurchase share or pay interim dividend were obtained from KOCOINFO database for the year 1999-2004. As a result, it was found that firms which had lower major shareholder ownership preferred stock repurchase. This means that those firms have an incentive to enhance management control through stock repurchases. Foreign investors who were known as long term investors were found to prefer interim dividend. But institutions and individual investors did not show any preference for both stock repurchase and interim dividend. Finally, the firms which pay interim dividend were found to realize good future earnings performance than those which repurchase shares. Because market participants want to realize similar levels of cash dividend from the firms in the future, only the firms which are expected to increase the earnings can use interim dividend. While the Securities and Exchange Act allows only three times interim dividend per year, firms can repurchase stock within the available dividend earnings when they want. Because our result shows the firms can select cash payout method between stock repurchase and interim dividend considering their business, it suggests that it is necessary to amend the Securities and Exchange Act.