Note(s): This table presents summary statistics for key variables used in the empirical analysis of firms listed on the Korean Stock Exchange from 2000 to 2019. Book lev is the book debt to total assets, and market lev is the book debt to the sum of book debt and market equity. Book lev_[t+3,t] and market lev_[t+3,t] are defined as the changes in book and market leverage, respectively, from year t to t+3, subsequent to a dividend change. DIV is calculated as the difference in annual dividends between year t and year t−1, scaled by the annual dividend of year t−1. M/B is the market-to-book ratio. PPE is property, plant and equipment divided by total assets. EBITD is earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization divided by total assets. SE represents selling expenses scaled by total sales. R&D is R&D expenditure over total assets. Asset is book value of total assets in billions of Korean won (KRW). Age is the number of years since the company’s inception

Source(s): Table by authors