RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND THE DIVIDEND POLICY: EVIDENCE FROM BRAZIL

Purpose: The present research aimed to analyze the relationship between the composition of boards of directors and the dividend policy in publicly traded non-financial Brazilian companies listed on Brasil, Bolsa, Balcao (B3). Method/approach: The research used data from the years 2010 to 2020 of Brazilian non-financial companies taken from the Economatica database and the Reference Forms. To obtain the results, the Logit, Tobit and GMM methods were used in the Stata software. Main findings: The results showed that the size, independence, diversity and duality of the CEO have an impact on the declaration of dividends, however only the size, gender and duality of the CEO impact on the payment of dividends and the financial expertise and the indication by the controllers are not related to the dividend policy. Theoretical, practical/social contributions: In practice, the results show that the composition of the board of directors in Brazil is an important instrument for protecting shareholders, especially minority shareholders. However, all investors in general must take composition into account, given that the distribution of dividends is part of the remuneration they expect, and companies must observe their composition, since the characteristics of the boards can expropriate investors. Originality/relevance: This research is the first in the Brazilian scenario to analyze the impact of the composition of boards of directors on the distribution of dividends. The research becomes relevant when exploring the effects of Corporate Governance on strategic decisions of companies such as dividend policy.