This paper measures the effect of dividend initiation announcements on firms’ stock returns using a propensity score matching approach. Unlike the traditional event study methodology, propensity score matching can reduce the bias in the estimation of dividend initiation effects by controlling for the existence of confounding factors. Consistent with previous studies, the results show that divid...

This paper investigates the determinants of dividend policy for Australian DCs and MCs. In considering dividend payout ratios we adopt two definitions – cash dividends and total dividends. The cash dividend payout ratios consists of cash dividends to net earnings while total dividend payout ratios consists of both cash dividends and share repurchases to net earnings. The determinants of foreign...

This paper offers a new mathematical formulation that addresses the relationship between expected price-to-book ratio, dividend per share, dividend payout ratio, systematic and unsystematic risks. The sample includes the non-financial firms in the DJIA covering the period 1997-2006. The general results show that the expected price-to-book ratios are: (a) positively associated with the expected ...

This paper examines the stock price sensitivity to dividend changes. The Dividend Signaling, the Free-Cash-Flow, the Maturity and the Catering Hypotheses all predict an average positive (negative) reaction to announcement of a dividend increase (decrease). However, these hypotheses have different cross-sectional predictions. This paper documents that the positive stock price response to dividen...

We compare the dividend policies of privatelyand publicly-held firms in order to examine Lintner’s (1956) model of dividends, as wells as more recent agency-based and informationbased explanations of observed dividend behavior. Our findings suggest that both public and private firms exhibit a strong aversion to dividend cuts and omissions; however, public firms adhere to a consistent policy of ...

This paper examines the extent to which swings in stock prices can be related to variations in the discounted value of expected future dividends when investors face uncertainty about their future behavior. I develop an econometric model that accounts for the instability of U.S. dividend growth and discount rates during the past 120 years. Estimates of the model reveal that changing forecasts of...

Based on the fundamental equations of equity valuation, we derive here the relationship between the equity risk premium, duration and dividend yield. Aside from providing a logical foundation for the difference between the ex-ante and ex-post measures of the risk premium, the work leads to other outcomes, namely, but not specifically, (1) that the current, effective dividend policy is a signall...

We analyze the regularity of the optimal exercise boundary for the American Put option when the underlying asset pays a discrete dividend at a known time td during the lifetime of the option. The ex-dividend asset price process is assumed to follow Black-Scholes dynamics and the dividend amount is a deterministic function of the ex-dividend asset price just before the dividend date. The solutio...

We consider the finite time horizon dividend-ruin model where the firm pays out dividends to its shareholders according to a dividend-barrier strategy and becomes ruined when the firm asset value falls below the default threshold. The asset value process is modeled as a restricted Geometric Brownian process with an upper reflecting (dividend) barrier and a lower absorbing (ruin) barrier. Analyt...

Executive Summary. Both dividend yields and past returns have predictive power for P/E ratios; hence they can be used as tools in forming a market timing and asset allocation strategy in stock markets. This study examines the extent to which changes in real estate returns, reflected in changes of property value and dividend yields, can have great effects on P/E ratios. The study is confined to ...