题　目：Protecting Brands, Promoting Payouts: How Trademark Protection Law Shapes Corporate Dividend Policy

嘉　宾：张飞达 副教授 中欧国际工商学院

主持人：李烁 助理教授 上海交通大学安泰经济与管理学院

时　间：2025年5月21日（周三）14:00-15:30

地　点：上海交通大学 徐汇校区安泰楼A503室

内容简介:

This paper examines how trademark protection affects corporate dividend policy using the Federal Trademark Dilution Act (FTDA) of 1996 as a quasi-natural experiment. We extend Miller and Rock's (1985) dividend signaling model to incorporate trademark protection, integrating signaling theory, agency theory, and life cycle theory of dividends. We predict that enhanced trademark protection increases dividend payments by improving cash flow stability and increasing market power, with stronger effects for firms with good information environments, high growth opportunities, and low retained earnings than for their counterparts. Our empirical results strongly support our predictions: firms with famous trademarks increased their dividend payments following FTDA's passage and reduced them after its subsequent nullification. Additional analysis shows that markets recognize these effects, as shown by the decreased marginal value of cash holdings for protected firms. Our findings demonstrate that intellectual property protection fundamentally alters corporate financial policies.

演讲人简介：

张飞达教授是中欧国际工商学院会计学副教授。加入中欧国际工商学院之前，张飞达教授担任昆士兰大学商学院终身副教授、莫道克大学商学院终身副教授及MBA中心主任、厦门大学访问教授、中山大学助理教授等职位。张教授毕业于香港浸会大学获会计学博士学位，并于厦门大学获会计学硕士学位。张教授的研究领域主要集中在财务管理与决策、公司治理、资本市场、企业社会责任、公司财务等方面。

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