中国上市公司“融资分红”——“昂贵的游戏”还是“理性的选择”

Financing Payouts from China's Listed Companies——Expensive Game or Rational Choice

"融资分红"是指公司支付的现金股利来源于外部融资,包括债务融资和股权融资。"融资分红"行为的存在使得分红现金应当来源于企业内部自由现金流的传统股利支付理论受到质疑。与内部融资相比,企业外部融资成本更高,"融资分红"行为令人不解。本文从财务决策关联性的视角出发,以2000—2016年连续17年沪深两市A股上市公司为研究对象,证实了"融资分红"行为存在的普遍性,并构建股利支付缺口指标,用以衡量企业分红对外部融资的依赖程度。结果表明,债务净增加和股权净增加是填补股利支付缺口的关键因素,且前者贡献更大;"融资分红"行为并不是企业的权宜之计,更多的是出于财务决策关联性考虑而实施的合理举措,有助于企业同时调节资本结构和稳定现金储备。研究结论拓展了传统股利支付理论的内涵,对企业管理者、广大股东和政府监管部门的相关决策具有一定的实践指导意义。

Financing payouts refer to paying cash dividend from external financing, including debt financing and equity financing. Financing payouts challenge the traditional dividend theory which advocates that dividend of cash comes from free cash flow within corporations. But compared with internal financing, the cost of external financing is more expensive, which makes the behavior of financing payouts puzzling. This paper, taking A-share listed companies on Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges from 2000 to 2016 for 17 consecutive years as research objects, confirms the universality of financing payouts from the perspective of the relevance of financial decisions. An index of dividend payout gap is constructed to measure the dependence of corporate dividends on external financing. The result shows that the increase in net debt and in net equity is key to filling the dividend payout gap. Additionally, the former contributes more. Also, financing payouts are sensible actions in consideration of relevance of financial decisions, rather than quick fixes. It helps companies adjust capital structure and stabilize cash reserves at the same time. The research conclusion expands the connotation of the traditional dividend theory, and has certain practical guiding significance for corporate executives, shareholders and regulators.