Abstract
The financial crisis has led to controversial discussions about the capital base of the insurance industry. Dividend cuts and capital increases have been suggested to counter diminishing equity. However, some observers seem to fear that investors could interpret a reduction of dividends as a sign for future problems. The empirical evidence from the Italian insurance sector reported here does indeed indicate that dividend smoothing is a relevant economic phenomenon. Therefore, Italian insurance companies should rethink dividend policy rather carefully due to the possible negative consequences of dividend cuts.
Zusammenfassung
Die Finanzkrise hat eine Diskussion zur Eigenkapitalbasis von Versicherungsunternehmen ausgelöst. Mögliche Auswege, um schwindende Rücklagen zu konsolidieren sind Dividendenkürzungen oder Eigenkapitalerhöhungen. Allerdings könnten insbesondere Dividendenkürzungen von Beobachtern als negatives Signal gewertet und zukünftige Probleme erwartet werden. Empirische Analysen zeigen, dass für die italienische Versicherungswirtschaft die Signalwirkung durch Dividendenpolitik nicht unterschätzt werden sollte. Daher sollten italienische Versicherer ihre Dividendenpolitik sorgfältig austarieren, um keine falschen Signale zu senden und in Folge mit negativen Folgen konfrontiert zu werden.
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Basse, T., Reddemann, S., Riegler, JJ. et al. Dividend policy and the global financial crisis: empirical evidence from the Italian insurance industry. ZVersWiss 100, 131–140 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12297-010-0092-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12297-010-0092-4