But share prices would hit an "inevitable crunch" unless more profits were directed to growth, the study found.

The study, The Challenge of Growth: Our Perspective on the Growth versus Dividends Debate, found ASX 200 companies paid 70 per cent of their earnings as dividends in 2013-14. This was 31 percentage points higher than the rest of the world, which paid 39 per cent.

But earnings per share among the ASX 200 had fallen 15 per cent behind the rest of the world during the past decade, the study found.

The findings back the assessment of Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens, who in July bemoaned the lack of "animal spirits" among Australian companies and their reluctance to invest.

A clear theme of the most recent reporting season was the generous dividends paid by blue-chip companies, including Telstra, Rio Tinto, Suncorp and Wesfarmers.

The study's co-author, Ramesh Karnani, said Australia's dividend payout ratios "cannot be sustained for long" and "only postpone an inevitable crunch".

"The growth-versus-dividend debate in Australia has lost sight of the fact that growth is a prerequisite of sustainable dividend increases," he said. "Even Glenn Stevens recently expressed his frustrations at the lack of investment in growth."

The dividend payouts were "understandable", Mr Karnani said, given growth opportunities were harder to find and investors had become more risk-adverse since the global financial crisis.

"Our view is business leaders cannot solve the growth crisis on their own. They must work more closely with investors to explain the importance of taking greater risks in the medium to long term."

Mr Karnani also urged governments to reduce high costs and increase productivity in the Australian economy.

Co-author Nick Glenning warned that "without growth, the equities market will recalibrate the company's share price".

While acknowledging that growth was "difficult", Mr Glenning pointed to Ramsay Health Care and CSL as examples of companies that had grown successfully.

"These companies prove Australian companies can achieve strong growth along with superior creation of shareholder value," he said.

Mr Glenning said growth was the biggest contributor to Total Shareholder Return, especially in the long run. Acquisitions were wrongly perceived as destructive for shareholder wealth and were an under-utilised growth option.

"Analysis of results over the past decade showed that highly acquisitive companies in the current ASX 200 outperformed in value creation, with a median annual TSR of 17 per cent, considerably higher than any other type of growers," he said.

The top 10 companies for TSR in the two years to June 30, 2014, were, from first to last: Sirius Resources, Magellan Financial, G8 Education, Kathmandu, TPG Telecom, Bega Cheese, REA, Tassal, Henderson and BlueScope Steel.