Abstract: Social trust is an important informal institution that has a significant impact on business behaviors. So, what effect does social trust have on the cash dividend distribution of enterprises? Taking Chinese A-share listed companies from 2009 to 2020 as samples, this paper explores the impact of social trust on corporate cash dividend distribution. The findings show that the lower the social trust in the regions where enterprises locate, the less inclined to distribute cash dividends the enterprises will be. And the higher the levels of regional financial development and the rule of law, the weaker the positive relationship between social trust and corporate cash dividend distribution will be. Further study reveals that lower social trust will raise the degree of financing constraints and the degree of earnings management of the enterprises, which can make them less inclined to distribute cash dividends. Therefore, it is necessary to continue to promote the construction of formal institutions to curb opportunistic behavior of listed companies, and to comprehensively promote the construction of an honest society to raise the level of social trust and reduce transaction costs and risks among economic individuals. In addition, enterprises should take the initiative to increase information disclosure, ease their own financing constraints, and reduce the phenomenon of “low” dividends and “zero” dividend.

Key words: social trust, cash dividends distribution, financing constraints, earnings management