•  
  •  
 

Abstract

This comprehensive study examines the dynamic interplay among CEO gender, trade credit, and dividend policies across 563 listed companies in Vietnam from 2006 to 2024. Employing the Generalized Method of Moments to address the endogeneity issue. The findings show that firms led by female CEOs distribute significantly lower dividends than those led by male CEOs. Moreover, a positive nexus exists between trade credit and the dividend payout ratio of listed firms in Vietnam. Furthermore, the study reveals that CEO gender moderates the relationship between trade credit and dividend payouts in Vietnam. Finally, our robustness tests confirm that the results remain consistent when the sample is disaggregated by industry, specifically across manufacturing and service sector subsamples. The f indings support a unified framework in which signaling incentives, managerial risk aversion, and stakeholder orientation jointly shape corporate payout decisions. These results are consistent with signaling theory, managerial risk aversion theory, and stakeholder theory. This study also provides practical implications for managers and policymakers to develop sustainable corporate payout policies by empowering corporate gender diversity and efficient working capital management.

References

Adams, R. B., & Funk, P. (2012). Beyond the glass ceiling: does gender matter?. Management science, 58(2), 219-235. https://doi. org/10.1287/mnsc.1110.1452

Al‐Najjar, B. (2011). The inter‐relationship between capital structure and dividend policy: empirical evidence from Jordanian data. International Review of Applied Economics, 25(2), 209-224. https://doi.org/10.1080/026 92171.2010.483464

Amidu, M., & Abor, J. (2006). Determinants of dividend payout ratios in Ghana. The journal of risk finance, 7(2), 136-145. https://doi. org/10.1108/15265940610648580

Amini, S., Delgado, M. S., Henderson, D. J., & Parmeter, C. F. (2012). Fixed vs random: The Hausman test four decades later. https://doi. org/10.1108/S0731-9053(2012)0000029021

Arrow, K. J. (1996). The theory of risk-bearing: small and great risks. Journal of risk and uncertainty, 12(2), 103-111. https://doi. org/10.1007/BF00055788 

Baltagi, B. H. (2008). Econometric analysis of panel data (Vol. 4, pp. 135-145). Chichester: John Wiley & Sons. https://doi. org/10.1007/978-3-030-53953-5

Barber, B. M., & Odean, T. (2001). Boys will be boys: Gender, overconfidence, and common stock investment. The quarterly journal of economics, 116(1), 261-292. https://doi. org/10.1162/003355301556400

Bear, S., Rahman, N., & Post, C. (2010). The impact of board diversity and gender composition on corporate social responsibility and firm reputation. Journal of business ethics, 97, 207-221. https://doi.org/https://doi. org/10.1007/s10551-010-0505-2

Bhattacharya, S. (1979). Imperfect information, dividend policy, and" the bird in the hand" fallacy. The bell journal of economics, 259270. https://doi.org/10.2307/3003330

Biais, B., & Gollier, C. (1997). Trade credit and credit rationing. The review of financial studies, 10(4), 903-937. https://doi.org/10.1093/ rfs/10.4.903

Booth, L., Aivazian, V., Demirguc‐Kunt, A., & Maksimovic, V. (2001). Capital structures in developing countries. The journal of finance, 56(1), 87-130. https://doi.org/10.1111/00221082.00320

Boubaker, S., Cuong, L. K., & Tran, N. H. (2022). Trade credit in transition economies: does state ownership matter?. Post-Communist Economies, 34(3), 293-327. https://doi. org/10.1080/14631377.2021.1886790

Chay, J. B., & Suh, J. (2009). Payout policy and cash-flow uncertainty. Journal of financial economics, 93(1), 88-107. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2008.12.001

Croson, R., & Gneezy, U. (2009). Gender differences in preferences. Journal of Economic literature, 47(2), 448-474. https://doi. org/10.1257/jel.47.2.448

Dang, H. N., Vu, V. T. T., Ngo, X. T., & Hoang, H. T. V. (2021). Impact of dividend policy on corporate value: Experiment in Vietnam. International Journal of Finance & Economics, 26(4), 5815-5825. https://doi. org/10.1002/ijfe.2095

DeAngelo, H., DeAngelo, L., & Stulz, R. M. (2006). Dividend policy and the earned/contributed capital mix: a test of the life-cycle theory. Journal of Financial economics, 81(2), 227-254. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. jfineco.2005.07.005

Deshmukh, S., Goel, A. M., & Howe, K. M. (2013). CEO overconfidence and dividend policy. Journal of financial intermediation, 22(3), 440-463. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. jfi.2013.02.003

Duong, D.K., Phan, T. T.P., Pho, K.H., & McAleer, M. (2020). Impact of board characteristics and state ownership on dividend policy in Vietnam. Advances in decision sciences(4), 1-34.

Duong, K. D., Dang, H. G., Tran, T. N. D., & Pham, H. (2024). How do financial constraints and market competition affect innovations: evidence from Vietnam. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 10(3), 100321. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.joitmc.2024.100321

Duong, K. D., Tran, T. N. D., Dang, H. G., & Le, H. T. P. (2026). Financial distress and earning manipulations in Vietnam: the moderating role of financial constraints. International Journal of Emerging Markets, 21(3), 657-679. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOEM-05-2024-0766

Eagly, A. H., Johannesen-Schmidt, M. C., & Van Engen, M. L. (2003). Transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership styles: a meta-analysis comparing women and men. Psychological bulletin, 129(4), 569.

Faccio, M., Marchica, M. T., & Mura, R. (2016). CEO gender, corporate risk-taking, and the efficiency of capital allocation. Journal of corporate finance, 39, 193-209. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2016.02.008

Fama, E. F., & French, K. R. (2001). Disappearing dividends: changing firm characteristics or lower propensity to pay?. Journal of Financial economics, 60(1), 3-43. https://doi. org/10.1016/S0304-405X(01)00038-1

Fisman, R., & Love, I. (2003). Trade credit, f inancial intermediary development, and industry growth. The Journal of finance, 58(1), 353-374. https://doi.org/10.1111/15406261.00527

Frank, M. Z., & Goyal, V. K. (2009). Capital structure decisions: which factors are reliably important?. Financial management, 38(1), 1-37. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1755053X.2009.01026.x 

Freeman, R. E. (2010). Strategic management: A stakeholder approach. Cambridge university press.

Hardy, B., & Sever, C. (2021). Financial crises and innovation. European Economic Review, 138, 103856. https://doi.org/https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.euroecorev.2021.103856

International Labour Organization [ILO]. (2015). More women in management is good for business. Retrieved February 14 from https://www.ilo.org/resource/news/morewomen-management-good-business

Jabbouri, I., & Attar, A. E. (2018). Dividend policy of firms listed on Casablanca Stock Exchange: a panel data analysis. International Journal of Business and Emerging Markets, 10(1), 57-79. https://doi.org/10.1504/ IJBEM.2018.090507

Jensen, M. C. (1986). Agency costs of free cash f low, corporate finance, and takeovers. The American economic review, 76(2), 323329. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1818789

John, K., & Williams, J. (1985). Dividends, dilution, and taxes: A signalling equilibrium. the Journal of Finance, 40(4), 1053-1070. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6261.1985. tb02363.x

Kieschnick, R., Laplante, M., & Moussawi, R. (2013). Working capital management and shareholders' wealth. Review of finance, 17(5), 1827-1852. https://doi.org/10.1093/ rof/rfs043

Koussis, N., Martzoukos, S. H., & Trigeorgis, L. (2017). Corporate liquidity and dividend policy under uncertainty. Journal of Banking & Finance, 81, 221-235. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.jbankfin.2017.01.021

Krieger, K., Mauck, N., & Pruitt, S. W. (2021). The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on dividends. Finance Research Letters, 42, 101910. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. frl.2020.101910

Lambrecht, B. M., & Myers, S. C. (2012). A Lintner model of payout and managerial rents. The journal of finance, 67(5), 17611810. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/ j.1540-6261.2012.01772.x

Le, H. T. P., Pham, T. N., Tran, T. N. D., Dang, H. G., & Duong, K. D. (2024). Financial constraints and bankruptcy risks of listed firms in Vietnam: does firm size matter?. Sage Open, 14(4), 21582440241305156. https:// doi.org/10.1177/21582440241305156

Luu, Q. T., Nguyen, H. T. T., Tran, T. N. D., & Ho, T. T. (2026). Financial constraints and corporate bankruptcy risks in China: The buffer role of cash holdings. PloS one, 21(1), e0341114. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal. pone.0341114

Miller, M. H., & Rock, K. (1985). Dividend policy under asymmetric information. The Journal of finance, 40(4), 1031-1051. https://doi. org/10.1111/j.1540-6261.1985.tb02362.x

Miller, T., & del Carmen Triana, M. (2009). Demographic diversity in the boardroom: Mediators of the board diversity–firm performance relationship. Journal of Management studies, 46(5), 755-786. https://doi. org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2009.00839.x Myers, S. C., &

Majluf, N. S. (1984). Corporate financing and investment decisions when f irms have information that investors do not have. Journal of financial economics, 13(2), 187-221. https://doi.org/10.1016/0304405X(84)90023-0

Nekrep, A., Strašek, S., & Boršič, D. (2018). Productivity and economic growth in the European Union: Impact of investment in research and development. Naše gospodarstvo/Our economy, 64(1), 18-27.

Nguyen, T. T. N., & Bui, P. K. (2019). Dividend policy and earnings quality in Vietnam. Journal of Asian Business and Economic Studies, 26(2), 301-312. https://doi.org/https://doi. org/10.1108/JABES-07-2018-0047

Oladipupo, A. O., & Ibadin, P. O. (2013). Does working capital management matter in dividend policy decision? Empirical evidence from Nigeria. International Journal of Financial Research, 4(4), 140.https://doi. org/10.5430/ijfr.v4n4p140

Peni, E., & Vähämaa, S. (2010). Female executives and earnings management. Managerial finance, 36(7), 629-645. https://doi. org/10.1108/03074351011050343

Pettenuzzo, D., Sabbatucci, R., & Timmermann, A. (2023). Dividend suspensions and cash flows during the Covid-19 pandemic: A dynamic econometric model. Journal of econometrics, 235(2), 1522-1541. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeconom.2022.11.008

Pratt, J. W. (1978). Risk aversion in the small and in the large. In Uncertainty in economics (pp. 59-79). Academic Press. https://doi. org/10.1016/B978-0-12-214850-7.50010-3

Shen, H., Fu, M., Pan, H., Yu, Z., & Chen, Y. (2021). The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on firm performance. In Research on Pandemics (pp. 81-98).

Routledge. Smith, C. W., & Stulz, R. M. (1985). The determinants of firms' hedging policies. Journal of financial and quantitative analysis, 20(4), 391-405. https://doi.org/10.2307/2330757

Tinungki, G. M., Robiyanto, R., & Hartono, P. G. (2022). The effect of COVID-19 pandemic on corporate dividend policy in Indonesia: The static and dynamic panel data approaches. Economies, 10(1), 11. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3390/economies10010011

Tran, T. N. D., Nguyen, H. T. T., Nguyen, N. T. T., & Duong, K. D. (2025). How R&D Premium, Market Power, and State Ownership Affected Stock Returns Before and During the Covid-19 Pandemic: Evidence from Vietnam. ABAC Journal, 45(4), 169-187.

Wilner, B. S. (2000). The exploitation of relationships in financial distress: The case of trade credit. The journal of finance, 55(1), 153-178. 1082.00203

Download

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.