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This study utilizes quantile regressions to investigate the effect of the determinants of share repurchases on firms at different points of the share repurchases distribution.  Empirical results from a large panel of  NYSE repurchasing firms, document an asymmetric effect of several determinants on share repurchases in terms of size, significance and direction. Excess capital, stock options and growth opportunities are significant throughout the distribution and their impact increases at successive quantiles while ownership concentration and leverage exhibit sign reversals between lower and upper quantiles. These differing effects are attributed to highly heterogeneous firm characteristics across quantiles.

This study explores the relationship between ESG reputational risk, corporate payouts and firm value. Using a sample of 2021 US‐listed firms between 2007 and 2019, we provide robust evidence that ESG reputational risk relates to higher payouts, and that free cash flows amplify this relationship. Turning to payout composition, we document that ESG reputational risk associates with a payout mix comprising a higher analogy of share repurchases versus dividends; and that this relationship is more pronounced under financial constraints. Furthermore, we show that the market places a premium on payouts from high ESG reputational risk firms. Our findings are in line with the notion that ESG reputational risk represents agency problems and raises financial risk, inducing firms to disgorge cash via a more flexible payout regime. Results are robust to several estimation techniques that address endogeneity, self‐selection and censored observations.

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