This article treats the empiric results about the importance of financing policies, especially dividend policies. Three focuses were discussed: the Signalling Hypothesis, the Agency Hypothesis and the Dividend Clientele Hypothesis. Some tendency can be observed in the first two approaches. Administrators believe that dividends contain signs of organizational future and that dividends tend to be used as reducers of agency conflict problems. However, in the three approaches, there still does not exist conclusive empiric evidence, especially because the specific characteristics of different markets may lead management to establish differentiated policies.
Dividend policy; Signalling Hypothesis; Agency Hypothesis; Dividend Clientele Hypothesis