TITLE:
Dividend Dynamics in the Shipping Industry: A Panel Data Analysis of Partial Adjustment Models
AUTHORS:
Ioannis Chasiotis, Dimitrios Konstantios, Vasilios-Christos Naoum
KEYWORDS:
Dividend Smoothing, Speed of Adjustment, Maritime Industry, Recession, Shipping Companies
JOURNAL NAME:
Theoretical Economics Letters,
Vol.11 No.5,
October
28,
2021
ABSTRACT: This study explores the dividend dynamics of
globally-listed firms in the idiosyncratic maritime sector. Employing an array
of dynamic panel estimators in a sample of globally-listed shipping firms for
the period 1988 to 2019 we provide empirical evidence that the degree of
dividend smoothing (speed of adjustment) in the maritime sector is
comparatively lower (higher). We also show that the speed of adjustment after
deviations from the target is significantly higher in recession states. Our
results document higher flexibility in the shipping industry’s dividend
payouts, reflecting its distinct traits that amplify the adverse impacts of
financing shocks.