This paper examines the influence of ownership structure on dividend policy of listed firms in China, an
emerging country where the structure of capital markets is strikingly different from that in the U.S. According to
Wei et al. (2005), China has weak legal protection for minority shareholders and underdeveloped markets for
corporate control. In addition, the ownership structure of Chinese listed firms is highly concentrated (Wang,
1999; Chen et al., 2009; Bai et al., 2013).