Hi,

In the late 90's companies were investing cash to grow their businesses leaving less for dividends. Today the environment is different: subpar growth / low visibility, companies tend to spend more on buying back their shares and/or growing their dividends. Hope this helps, Sébastien

The payment of dividends may also be a negative signal. The dividend distribution might look like a lack of investment opportunities and liquidity is then distributed to shareholders. See the case of Microsoft.

The dividend policy is very controversial both theoretically and empirically

HI,

This paper might give you perhaps  some part of the answer

B Buchanan,C Cao, E Liljeblom,S Weihrich, "uncertainty and firm dividend policy - a natural experiment", Journal of Corporate Finance, 2017, 42, p 179 -197.

Best regards.