We study payout by UK listed companies during 1993–2018. Regular dividends remain the dominant channel, but flexible payouts (special dividends and repurchases) have grown, and they make total payout more responsive to earnings. Flexible payouts are used to augment regular dividends: few companies pay out by flexible means only, and tests indicate that they augment rather than replace regular dividends. Comparison with US evidence shows that UK companies make greater use of dividends (including specials) in relation to repurchases, and have a greater willingness to change regular dividend per share.

中文翻译：

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股息与灵活派息之间不断演变的关系：不同的演变

我们研究了 1993 年至 2018 年英国上市公司的派息。定期派息仍然是主要渠道，但灵活派息（特别派息和回购）已经增长，它们使总派息对收益的反应更加灵敏。灵活支付用于增加定期股息：很少有公司仅通过灵活方式支付，测试表明它们增加而不是取代定期股息。与美国的证据相比，英国公司更多地利用与回购相关的股息（包括特价），并且更愿意改变每股常规股息。