Thesis (Ph.D.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Commerce - Department of Business Administration

Purpose- the purpose of this research is to investigate the impact of ownership structure on agency costs and to test whether dividend payout and leverage can be used as an effective monitoring mechanism to mitigate agency problem within Egyptian firms or not. Design/ methodology/ approach- this research uses multiple regression analysis in testing the hypothesis. This research was conducted on firms listed on EGX- 100 over the period from quarter three 2013 till quarter one 2019. Findings- Results revealed that both ownership structure and dividend payout ratio have a significant impact on reducing equity agency problem within firms operating in the Egyptian stock market. There was no significant relation between leverage level and agency costs. Also, results have shown that ownership concentration and type have no significant impact on dividend policies and level of leverage adopted by firms within Egyptian market. Accordingly, this research showed that dividend payout and leverage do not act as mediators for the relation between ownership structure and agency costs. Originality/ value- This research extends prior research about the relation between ownership structure and equity agency costs within the Egyptian market. This research offers a broad view about equity agency problem as it examines assets utilization, expenses ratio and examines free cash flow agency problem. Also, this research adds earning management and earning quality as proxies for equity agency costs from accounting perspective. In addition to testing the role of dividend payout and leverage in mediating the relation between ownership structure and agency costs

Issued also as CD