Title: The policy of dividend variability of companies listed on the West African regional stock exchange: between predictability, retention and stability

Authors: Pourakin Djarius Dieudonné Bama

Addresses: Department of Management, Faculty of Economics and Management Science, Thomas Sankara University, Ouagadougou, P.O. Box 343, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Abstract: We will examine the dividend policy of companies listed on the West African regional stock exchange basing findings on a panel of 31 companies. Through a regression analysis, we find a mutual and significant influence of past dividends, prices, net earnings and returns on dividend variation. Furthermore, we show that dividend variation is stationary and predictable, as are the stock price, net income and stock return. This leads us to think that managers practise retention policy and dividend stability with an optimum distribution.

Keywords: dividends; predictability of dividends; dividend retention; dividend stability.

DOI: 10.1504/GBER.2022.124598

Global Business and Economics Review, 2022 Vol.27 No.1, pp.72 - 95

Received: 24 Jan 2021
Accepted: 01 Sep 2021
Published online: 29 Jul 2022 *

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