Corporate Governance, Dividend Policy, and Firm Value: A Bibliometric Review

Abstract

Purpose: This study maps how research jointly connects corporate governance, dividend policy, and firm value, and clarifies whether dividend policy is represented as a governance outcome, a substitute for weak governance, or a possible transmission mechanism linking governance to valuation.

Method: Using 185 English-language Scopus-indexed journal publications (175 articles and 10 reviews) retrieved on 10 June 2026, the study combines a structured literature review with bibliometric analysis. Descriptive bibliometrics, citation analysis, source, country, and affiliation mapping, keyword co-occurrence analysis in VOSviewer, and metadata-assisted theoretical-signal mapping were used.

Findings: Publication activity increased markedly after 2015, while the keyword network shows eight co-occurrence clusters linking governance, payout, ownership, financing, performance, and valuation terms. These patterns indicate conceptual proximity across the three constructs, but they do not establish causal, mediating, or moderating relationships. The metadata-derived theoretical signals are dominated by agency-, institutional-, signaling-, and financing-related labels, although these labels do not verify full-text theory use.

Implications: Future research should move beyond co-occurrence evidence by directly testing mediation and moderation models using firm-level panel data, cross-country designs, or quasi-experimental approaches. Particular attention should be given to institutional quality, legal enforcement, financial-system development, ownership structures, CSR/ESG measures, alternative payout channels, and endogeneity-aware empirical designs.

Keywords: corporate governance; dividend policy; firm value; payout policy; agency theory; investor protection; ownership structure; institutional quality