The Effects of Ownership Structure and Board Composition on the Dividend Policy of the Listed Firms in Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE)

Dividend policy constitutes an effective factor on shareholders wealth maximization, as the main goal of the firms. For this reason, the question of dividend policy has been one of the most important topics in corporate finance. This study investigates the effects of ownership structure and board composition on dividend policy of the firms listed in the Tehran Stock Exchange. In this regard, multiple regression is used and the effects of earning growth and previous year dividend policy is controlled. Investigations of the 77 firms from 1382 to 1386 reveal that the corporate ownership and board independence, positively and institutional ownership, negatively affect the dividend payout ratio of the firms listed in the Tehran Stock Exchange. However, no evidence confirming significant correlation between managerial ownership and ownership concentration with dividend policy is found.