Intellectual capital and dividend policy: the effect of CEO characteristics

Purpose: The paper aims to empirically test the impact of intellectual capital (IC) on a firm's dividend policy. Further, the authors investigate the moderator effect of Chief Executive Officer's (CEO) characteristics (gender, age and education) on this relationship. Design/methodology/approach: The research was carried out on the main Chinese listed companies reported on the CSI 100 Index from 2016 to 2018. To assess the impact of IC on the dividend policy and then the moderating effect of the characteristics of the CEOs, the authors used a fixed effects panel data analysis. Findings: The results suggest a positive impact of IC on dividend policies. In addition, this relationship is enhanced when the CEO is a woman, and the lower the age the higher the effect is. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first empirical study that explores the effect of IC on a firm's dividend policy in an emerging country. Specifically, this paper demonstrates the impact that IC has on the creation of shareholder value. Furthermore, considering the characteristics of the CEOs, this study tests new moderating effects in the relationship between IC and value creation and highlights how IC, dividends and CEO characteristics can be useful in aligning interests between ownership and management, enriching the debate on agency theory.