• Dr. Kaushik Chakraborty

During the post-liberalization period, reorientations in Indian economy haveforcedbusinessfirms tomodernize theirmanagement practices. The domestic companies have failed to maintain their traditional practices as they have been highly exposed to the foreign competitors.Framing suitable dividend policy is one of the most crucial issues that the management of a company should consider with due importance in order to survive in today’s competitive business environment. There is no strict rule or guideline to decide as to what portion of the profit should be distributed as dividend and what portion should be kept in the business. An inefficient dividend policy may put the company into financial distress. Both conservative and liberal dividend policies have some positive as well as negative impacts. Dividend policy that ensures shareholders’ wealth maximization istreated as the ideal dividend policy. In fact,an ideal dividend policy which is influenced by a good number of internal as well as external factors is very crucial to improvethe value of the company. In this backdrop, the present paper seeks to examine the dividend payout trends and the degree of influence of some major internal factors on dividend policy of both domestic and multinational pharmaceutical companies in Indian pharmaceutical industry during the period 1998-99 to 2012-13.The paper also makes a comparison, in respect of dividend payout trend and the degree of influence of some important internal factors on dividend policy,between multinational and domestic companies in the Indian pharmaceutical industry during the same period. In this study, ten multinational and ten domestic companies in the Indian pharmaceutical sector have been considered. The issues analyzed in this study have been tackled using relevant statistical tools and techniques.

Pharmaceutical Industry, Multinational, Domestic Companies, Dividend Payout

"A Comparative Study of Dividend Policies of Selected Domestic and Multinational Companies in Indian Pharmaceutical Sector", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 6, page no.219-230, June 2019, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1906O33.pdf

"A Comparative Study of Dividend Policies of Selected Domestic and Multinational Companies in Indian Pharmaceutical Sector", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 6, page no. pp219-230, June 2019, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1906O33.pdf