Why is it relevant for a company to use dividends to incentivize shareholders to maintain ownership of the company's stocks?
As I say in the comments, I would speculate share prices must be maintained because shareholders are collectively the owners of the company, and they want to maximise rent extraction from the operation, including maintaining or improving the resale price of the shares.
If the existing management do not cooperate to that end, they can be fired and replaced by those who will, or the entire business may be sold for scrap and the capital proceeds invested elsewhere.
I agree though that the linked article is not at all clear about why &quot;maintaining ownership&quot; is important.