This article documents how the changing composition of U.S. publicly traded firms has prompted a decline in the long-run mean of the aggregate dividend-price ratio, most notably since the 1970s. Adjusting the dividend–price ratio for such changes resolves several issues with respect to the predictability of stock market returns: The adjusted dividend-price ratio is less persistent, in-sample ev...

For a sample of 94 firms, using data up to 1999, we find that retentions are more significant than dividends in determining prices of shares that are actively traded on the Egyptian stock market. However, for non-actively traded shares, the accounting book value is the most important determinant. Reductions in dividends are associated with a lack of liquidity and profitability. Dividend increas...

We extend prior research on the value relevance of accounting information for lossmaking firms by allowing the coefficient of book value to vary across three distinct set of loss-making firm observations in our valuation model. Our key findings are, first, that book value is a less important determinant of equity value for either high R&D-intensive firms or dividend-paying firms, relative to fi...

explaining dividend policy has been one of the most difficult challenges facing financial economists. despite decades of study, we have yet to completely understand the factors that influence dividend policy and the manner in which these factors interact.the aim of this paper is to examine the relation between dividend policy and share price volatility in tehran stock exchange (tse). the analys...

In this paper, we provide new and complementing international evidence on the relation between cash holdings, corporate governance, and firm value. Our sample consists of a crosssection of 1,875 firms from 46 countries in 2007. We construct eight different measures of firm-level corporate governance based on 64 individual governance attributes provided by Governance Metrics International (GMI)....

We comprehensively examine the effects of stock return volatility on firms’ financial and investment decisions. Consistent with theories of investment with financing frictions, firms with high volatility actively reduce their leverage, cut investment, increase cash holding, cut non-cash current assets such as inventories and account receivables, and cut dividend. The effects of volatility are s...

It is almost an article of faith that managers have a preference for smooth dividends. Yet, it is not clear if this reflects investors’ preferences. In this paper, we study whether investors indeed value dividend smoothing stocks differently by exploring the implications of dividend smoothing for firms’ stock prices and cost of capital. Using over 80 years of data, we find no robust relationshi...