Yogyakarta, January 26th, 2023
The Master of Science and Doctoral Program (MD) FEB UGM has held an open examination for the promotion of Doctor of Management for a Ph.D. candidate, Dian Purnomo Jati. Prof. Nurul Indarti, Sivilokonom, Cand.Merc., Ph.D., Head of the Department of Management, acted as Chair of the Session. In this open examination, presented Prof. Eduardus Tandelilin, M.B.A., Ph.D. as a promoter and I Wayan Nuka Lantara, M.Si., Ph.D. dan Bowo Setiyono, M.Com., Ph.D. as co-promoter. In addition, the assessment team and examiners was also present. Also attending were the families of the doctoral candidates, work relatives, and invited guests.
The open doctoral promotion examination was opened by the chairman of the session and then given chances to the promoter, co-promoter, assessment team, and examiner team to ask questions related to the dissertation that has been done. The Ph.D. candidate was able to answer questions well and fluently and defended the argument for his dissertation entitled ” Dividend Distribution Policy, Agency Conflict, and Corporate Governance: An Empirical Study in ASEAN-5,” so that she successfully graduated with the predicate “very satisfying.”
For information, the dissertation of Dr. Dian focuses on empirical studies regarding dividend smoothing behavior and the factors that influence the level of dividend smoothing. This study uses secondary data sourced from 193 companies in five ASEAN countries, namely Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, and Malaysia. The test period starts from 2011 to 2019. Most of the studies on dividend smoothing policies aim to prove whether companies tend to implement dividend smoothing policies or not. What distinguishes this research from previous studies is the explanation of the reasons why companies do dividend smoothing or the determinants of a company’s tendency to do dividend smoothing. This is a research novelty.
This research develops further studies using the agency model as the only argument underlying dividend smoothing behavior. That is because the perspective of information asymmetry and perspective of the agency are very strong in explaining the level of agency conflict faced by companies. In its contribution, this research expands the agency model used to examine the relationship between high and low agency conflicts with dividend smoothing behavior. The agency model used in explaining dividend smoothing behavior expanded by adopting internal and external mechanism variables of corporate governance practices. Corporate governance variable as a moderator in relationship between agency conflict and the degree of dividend distribution.
The results of this study indicate that agency conflict has a significant positive effect on the level of dividend smoothing. The test results also show that corporate governance has a significant negative effect on the level of dividend smoothing. Companies with strong corporate governance tend to be responded with a low level of dividend smoothing. Next, the test results also show that the level of investor protection has a significant negative effect on the level of dividend smoothing. Companies that do dividend smoothing tend to be in situations where shareholder rights tend to be weak. Based on research results, investor protection strengthens the negative effect of corporate governance on the level of dividend smoothing (complementary affect). Furthermore, the test results also show that corporate governance weakens the positive affect of agency conflict on the level of dividend smoothing. Agency conflicts mitigated by strong corporate governance practices, so the dividend smoothing mechanism is no longer needed to respond the existence of agency conflicts. Dividend equalization has become a substitute for corporate governance.
The lecturer at the Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Jenderal Soedirman (UNSOED) officially holds the 5766th doctoral degree who passed the exam at Universitas Gadjah Mada and the 322nd who passed the exam at FEB UGM. Prof. Eduardus Tandelilin, M.B.A., Ph.D. as the promoter, congratulated Dr. Dian and his family. He appreciated Dr. Dian for completing his studies despite all the challenges and was able to complete his dissertation with an interesting contribution. Graduation from this doctoral program is not an end, but a beginning to contribute more. He also hopes that research from Dr. Dian can be useful and the knowledge gained can be a provision to contribute. Prof. Ted advised that Dr. Dian maintains communication and maintains the good name of his alma mater. (Y)
