Shareholders’ greed and corporate value growth

Abstract

Abstract This article investigates whether companies with a higher payout ratio make fewer investments, to evaluate how firms make their decisions about corporate value creation. Furthermore, it examines how this yearning for dividends and the corresponding earning distribution affect the value creation for the shareholders in the long term. The findings show that companies with a higher level of dividends make fewer investments and deliver a lower return for shareholders. Higher levels of dividends generally imply a lower amount of resources to reinvest, negatively affecting long-term growth investing. Overall, the main insight is that the investor’s “greed” and appetite for short-term results (in forms of dividends), drove a lower performance and creation of value for the same shareholders. The companies more oriented to the long term, in terms of investments and growth, reached a superior value.