Block-Holders and Dividends: Evidence from Pakistan

This study is designed to examine the effect of multiple large shareholders on dividend payouts.  We employed the data of seventy-five non-financial firms of the KSE-100 index from 2006 to 2018. Results report that the multiple large shareholders have a significant negative effect on dividend payouts. It implies that a weak legal structure supports large shareholders to expropriate wealth from the minorities. Moreover, we find that firms pay more dividends when they have a high level of profitability, larger assets, lower debt in the capital mix, and greater cash holding. Thus, our study contributes to the scant literature of block-holders and dividend payouts policy.