Determinants of Dividend Policies of Russian Companies and Impact on Value Creation

The purpose of the work is to determine the factors in the formation of the dividend policy of companies and their impact on the value of companies in both the Russian and foreign markets. The study period is 8 years and contains observations of 42 of the most liquid Russian public companies, as well as the largest American and international companies from the S&P500 index. Using the panel data methodology, the following conclusions were drawn: life cycle factors, such as cash flow and company size, have a significant positive effect on the dividend policy of Russian companies. The company's market share has a negative impact on the dividend policy of companies in developed markets, but no such dependence has been found for the Russian market. Another significant difference between the Russian market and the more developed in terms of the formation of dividend policy is the dependence of this policy on the volatility of the company’s business, while in developed markets the policy on dividends is determined by the growth of profit and investment. Regarding the impact of the dividend policy on the value of the company, conclusions were drawn that the size of dividends itself does not have a significant impact on the value of shares - the growth and stability of dividends are important in this process.