Abstract
Dividends represent the primary means by which invested capital is returned to common stockholders. In this article we summarize the development of academic thinking on dividend policy, focusing on three primary perspectives: (a) the effect of dividend policy on common stock value and firm performance, (b) the determinants of dividend policy, and (c) macroeconomic trends in the propensity of firms to pay dividends.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Bibliography
Aharony, J., and I. Swary. 1980. Quarterly dividend and earnings announcements and stockholders’ returns: An empirical analysis. Journal of Finance 35: 1–12.
Allen, F., and R. Michaely. 2003. Payout policy. In Handbook of the economics of finance: volume 1a, ed. G. Constantinides, M. Harris, and R. Stulz. Amsterdam: North-Holland.
Asquith, P., and D. Mullins. 1983. The impact of initiating dividend payments on shareholders’ wealth. Journal of Business 56: 77–96.
Barclay, M. 1987. Dividends, taxes, and common stock prices: The ex-dividend day behavior of common stock prices before the income tax. Journal of Financial Economics 14: 31–44.
Barclay, M., and C. Smith. 1988. Corporate payout policy: Cash dividends versus open-market repurchases. Journal of Financial Economics 22: 61–82.
Bell, L., and T. Jenkinson. 2002. New evidence of the impact of dividend taxation and on the identity of the marginal investor. Journal of Finance 57: 1321–1346.
Benartzi, S., R. Michaely, and R. Thaler. 1997. Do changes in dividends signal the future or the past? Journal of Finance 52: 1007–1043.
Bhattacharya, S. 1979. Imperfect information, dividend policy, and ‘the bird in the hand’ fallacy. Bell Journal of Economics 10: 259–270.
Bhattacharya, S. 1980. Nondissipative signaling structures and dividend policy. Quarterly Journal of Economics 95: 1–24.
Black, F., and M. Scholes. 1974. The effects of dividend yield and dividend policy on common stock prices and returns. Journal of Financial Economics 1: 1–22.
Brav, A., J. Graham, R. Michaely, and C. Harvey. 2005. Payout policy in the 21st century. Journal of Financial Economics 77: 483–527.
Brennan, M. 1970. Taxes, market valuation and financial policy. National Tax Journal 23: 417–429.
Brickley, J. 1983. Shareholders wealth, information signaling, and the specially designated dividend: An empirical study. Journal of Financial Economics 12: 187–209.
Chen, N., B. Grundy, and R. Stambaugh. 1990. Changing risk, changing risk premiums, and dividend yield effects. Journal of Business 63: S51–S70.
Dann, L. 1981. Common stock repurchases: An analysis of returns to bondholders and stockholders. Journal of Financial Economics 9: 113–138.
DeAngelo, H., L. DeAngelo, and D. Skinner. 2000. Special dividends and the evolution of dividend signaling. Journal of Financial Economics 57: 309–354.
DeAngelo, H., L. DeAngelo, and D. Skinner. 2004. Are dividends disappearing? Dividend concentration and the consolidation of earnings. Journal of Financial Economics 72: 425–456.
DeAngelo, H., L. DeAngelo, and R. Stulz. 2006. Dividend policy and the earned/contributed capital mix: A test of the life-cycle theory. Journal of Financial Economics 81: 227–254.
Denis, D. 1990. Defensive changes in corporate payout policy: Share repurchases and special dividends. Journal of Finance 45: 1433–1456.
Denis, D., D. Denis, and A. Sarin. 1994. The information content of dividend changes: Cash flow signaling, overinvestment, and dividend clienteles. Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis 29: 567–587.
Dewing, A. 1953. The Financial policy of corporations. Vol. 2. 5th ed. New York: Ronald Press Co.
Eades, K., P. Hess, and E. Kim. 1984. On interpreting security returns during the ex-dividend period. Journal of Financial Economics 13: 3–34.
Easterbrook, F. 1984. Two agency–cost explanations of dividends. American Economic Review 74: 650–659.
Elton, E., and M. Gruber. 1970. Marginal stockholders’ tax rates and the clientele effect. Review of Economics and Statistics 52: 68–74.
Elton, E., M. Gruber, and C. Blake. 2005. Marginal stockholder tax effects and ex-dividend day behavior: Evidence from taxable versus nontaxable closed-end funds. Review of Economics and Statistics 87: 579–586.
Faccio, M., and L. Lang. 2002. The ultimate ownership of western European corporations. Journal of Financial Economics 65: 365–395.
Fama, E.F., and K. French. 1993. Common risk factors in the returns on stocks and bonds. Journal of Financial Economics 33: 3–56.
Fama, E.F., and K. French. 1998. Taxes, financing decisions, and firm value. Journal of Finance 53: 819–843.
Fama, Eugene, and K. French. 2001. Disappearing dividends: Changing firm characteristics or lower propensity to pay? Journal of Financial Economics 60: 3–43.
Fenn, G., and N. Liang. 2001. Corporate payout policy and managerial stock incentives. Journal of Financial Economics 60: 45–72.
Gordon, M. 1959. Dividends, earnings and stock prices. Review of Economics and Statistics 41: 99–105.
Graham, B., and D. Dodd. 1951. Security analysis: Principles and technique. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Green, R., and K. Rydqvist. 1999. Ex-day behavior with dividend preference and limitation to short-term arbitrage: The case of Swedish lottery bonds. Journal of Financial Economics 53: 145–187.
Grullon, G., and R. Michaely. 2002. Dividends, share repurchases and the substitution hypothesis. Journal of Finance 57: 1649–1684.
Grullon, G., R. Michaely, and B. Swaminathan. 2002. Are dividend changes a sign of firm maturity? Journal of Business 75: 387–424.
Healy, P., and K. Palepu. 1988. Earnings information conveyed by dividend initiations and omissions. Journal of Financial Economics 21: 149–176.
Jagannathan, M., C. Stephens, and M. Weisbach. 2000. Financial flexibility and the choice between dividends and stock repurchases. Journal of Financial Economics 57: 355–384.
Jensen, M. 1986. Agency costs of free cash flow, corporate finance, and takeovers. American Economic Review 76: 323–329.
Jensen, M., and W. Meckling. 1976. Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure. Journal of Financial Economics 3: 305–360.
John, K., and J. Williams. 1985. Dividends, dilution, and taxes: A signaling equilibrium. Journal of Finance 40: 1053–1070.
La Porta, R., F. Lopez-De Silanes, A. Shleifer, and R. Vishny. 2000. Agency problems and dividend policy around the world. Journal of Finance 55: 1–33.
Lakonishok, J., and T. Vermaelen. 1986. Tax induced trading around ex-dividend dates. Journal of Financial Economics 16: 287–319.
Lang, L., and R. Litzenberger. 1989. Dividend announcements: Cash flow signaling vs. free cash flow hypothesis. Journal of Financial Economics 24: 181–192.
Lintner, J. 1956. Distribution of incomes of corporations among dividends, retained earnings, and taxes. American Economic Review 46: 97–113.
Litzenberger, R., and K. Ramaswamy. 1979. The effects of personal taxes and dividends on capital asset prices: Theory and empirical evidence. Journal of Financial Economics 7: 163–195.
Michaely, R. 1991. Ex-dividend day stock price behavior: The case of the 1986 tax reform act. Journal of Finance 46: 845–860.
Michaely, R., and J. Vila. 1995. Investors’ heterogeneity, prices and volume around the ex-dividend day. Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis 30: 171–198.
Michaely, R., R. Thaler, and K. Womack. 1995. Price reactions to dividend initiations and omissions: Overreaction or drift? Journal of Finance 50: 573–608.
Miller, M. 1987. The information content of dividends. In Macroeconomics: Essays in honor of Franco Modigliani, ed. J. Bossons, R. Dornbush, and S. Fischer. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Miller, J., and J. McConnell. 1995. Open-market share repurchase programs and bid-ask spreads on the NYSE: Implications for corporate payout policy. Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis 30: 365–382.
Miller, M., and F. Modigliani. 1961. Dividend policy, growth and the valuation of shares. Journal of Business 34: 411–433.
Miller, M., and K. Rock. 1985. Dividend policy under asymmetric information. Journal of Finance 40: 1031–1051.
Miller, M., and M. Scholes. 1978. Dividends and taxes. Journal of Financial Economics 6: 333–364.
Miller, M., and M. Scholes. 1982. Dividends and taxes: Empirical evidence. Journal of Political Economy 90: 1118–1141.
Ofer, A., and D. Siegel. 1987. Corporate financial policy, information, and market expectations: An empirical investigation of dividends. Journal of Finance 42: 889–911.
Ofer, A., and A. Thakor. 1987. A theory of stock price responses to alternative corporate cash disbursement methods: Stock repurchases and dividends. Journal of Finance 42: 365–394.
Pettit, R. 1972. Dividend announcements, security performance, and capital market efficiency. Journal of Finance 27: 993–1007.
Poterba, J., and L. Summers. 1984. New evidence that taxes affect the valuation of dividends. Journal of Finance 39: 1397–1415.
Rozeff, M. 1982. Growth, beta and agency costs as determinants of dividend payout ratios. Journal of Financial Research 5: 249–259.
Stulz, R. 1988. Managerial control of voting rights: Financing policies and the market for corporate control. Journal of Financial Economics 20: 25–54.
Vermaelen, T. 1981. Common stock repurchases and market signaling: An empirical study. Journal of Financial Economics 9: 139–183.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Copyright information
© 2018 Macmillan Publishers Ltd.
About this entry
Cite this entry
Denis, D.J., McConnell, J.J. (2018). Dividend Policy. In: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_234
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_234
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-95188-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-95189-5
eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences