Specialities of Dividend Policy of Government Companies

The present paper present a study that examines the specific characteristics of dividend policy of state-owned companies. The study is based on the sample of public companies from Russia over the period 2001–2016. The goal of the research is achieved by the using modified Lintner's model, multifactor analysis of determinants and Heckman's model. The results of the study indicate that dividend policy depend on company size, profitability, investment opportunities, growth of net income and government ownership. State-owned companies pay dividend more often and the amount of dividends is more stable. The state ownership has a great influence on dividend policy in crisis. In years of the stable economic growth the dividend policy of the companies with government ownership is influenced more by previous dividends rather than current net income. Moreover, the research demonstrates great importance of complex studying of payout ratio determinants and existence of dividend payments.