Effect of Institutional Depositors on Banks' Dividend Policy: Evidence from Korea during the Global Financial Crisis*

Abstract This study investigates the motive for dividends by examining the relationship between dividends and banks' institutional depositors during the global financial crisis. The results indicate that during the financial crisis, the higher the deposit ratio of institutional depositors to the total insured deposits was, the lower the dividend payments were. This may be attributable to the fact that during the financial crisis, banks significantly reduced their dividends because they were under close monitoring due to the fear that institutional depositors would overreact to disadvantageous policy and cause a bank run.