A Catering Theory of Dividends

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A Catering Theory of Dividends

Author Info

Malcolm Baker (Harvard Business School and NBER)
Jeffrey Wurgler (NYU Stern School of Business)

Additional information is available for the following registered author(s):

Jeffrey Wurgler

Abstract

We propose that the decision to pay dividends is driven by prevailing investor demand for dividend payers. Managers cater to investors by paying dividends when investors put a stock price premium on payers, and by not paying when investors prefer nonpayers. To test this prediction, we construct four stock price-based measures of investor demand for dividend payers. By each measure, nonpayers tend to initiate dividends when demand is high. By some measures, payers tend to omit dividends when demand is low. Further analysis confirms that these results are better explained by catering than other theories of dividends. Copyright 2004 by The American Finance Association.

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Article provided by American Finance Association in its journal The Journal of Finance.

Volume (Year): 59 (2004)
Issue (Month): 3 (06)
Pages: 1125-1165
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Handle: RePEc:bla:jfinan:v:59:y:2004:i:3:p:1125-1165

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Paper
- Malcolm Baker & Jeffrey Wurgler, 2003. "A Catering Theory of Dividends," NBER Working Papers 9542, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

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Other versions:
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Other versions:
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Other versions:
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Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

Renneboog, L.D.R. & Trojanowski, Grzegorz, 2005. "Control structures and payout policy," Discussion Paper 61, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
Other versions:
- Renneboog, L.D.R. & Trojanowski, G., 2005. "Control structures and payout policy," Discussion Paper 14, Tilburg University, Tilburg Law and Economic Center. [Downloadable!]
Lai, Richard, 2004. "A Catering Theory of Analyst Bias," MPRA Paper 4761, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
Other versions:
- Richard Kum-yew Lai, 2005. "A Catering Theory of Analyst Bias," Finance 0509004, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
Renneboog, L.D.R. & Szilagyi, Peter G., 2006. "How relevant is dividend policy under low shareholder protection?," Discussion Paper 73, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
Other versions:
- Renneboog, L.D.R. & Szilagyi, P.G., 2006. "How Relevant is Dividend Policy under Low Shareholder Protection?," Discussion Paper 2006-019, Tilburg University, Tilburg Law and Economic Center.
Richard Kum-yew Lai, 2005. "Does Competition Kill Ties?," Others 0509001, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
Other versions:
- Lai, Richard, 2005. "Does Competition Kill Ties?," MPRA Paper 4759, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
Malcolm P. Baker & Ryan Taliaferro & Jeffrey Wurgler, 2004. "Pseudo Market Timing and Predictive Regressions," NBER Working Papers 10823, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Malcolm Baker & Jeffrey Wurgler, 2007. "Investor Sentiment in the Stock Market," NBER Working Papers 13189, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Other versions:
- Malcolm Baker & Jeffrey Wurgler, 2007. "Investor Sentiment in the Stock Market," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 21(2), pages 129-152, Spring.
Neves, Elisabete & Pindado, Julio & Torre, Chabela de la, 2006. "Dividends: New evidence on the catering theory," Documentos de Trabajo "Nuevas Tendencias en DirecciÃ³n de Empresas". Working Papers "New Trends on Business Administration". 2006-14, Interuniversitary Doctorate Program "New Trends on Business Administration", Universities of Valladolid, Burgos and Salamanca (Spain). Programa de Doctorado Interuniversitario "Nuevas Tendencias en Di. [Downloadable!]
Roger Gordon & Martin Dietz, 2006. "Dividends and Taxes," NBER Working Papers 12292, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Malcolm Baker & Jeffrey Wurgler, 2003. "Appearing and Disappearing Dividends: The Link to Catering Incentives," NBER Working Papers 9995, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Other versions:
- Baker, Malcolm & Wurgler, Jeffrey, 2004. "Appearing and disappearing dividends: The link to catering incentives," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(2), pages 271-288, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Philippe Aghion & Jeremy C. Stein, 2004. "Growth vs. Margins: Destabilizing Consequences of Giving the Stock Market What it Wants," NBER Working Papers 10999, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Ameer, Rashid/R, 2007. "Product Market Competition, Regulation and Dividend Payout Policy of Malaysian Banks," MPRA Paper 8579, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
Raj Chetty & Emmanuel Saez, 2004. "Dividend Taxes and Corporate Behavior: Evidence from the 2003 Dividend Tax Cut," NBER Working Papers 10841, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Other versions:
- Chetty, Raj & Saez, Emmanuel, 2004. "Dividend Taxes and Corporate Behaviour: Evidence from the 2003 Dividend Tax Cut," CEPR Discussion Papers 4722, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
- Raj Chetty & Emmanuel Saez, 2005. "Dividend Taxes and Corporate Behavior: Evidence from the 2003 Dividend Tax Cut," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 120(3), pages 791-833, August.
Malcolm Baker & Robin Greenwood & Jeffrey Wurgler, 2008. "Catering Through Nominal Share Prices," NBER Working Papers 13762, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Carlos Martins, 2007. "Consistency of Dividend Signalling and Future Maturity Level:Evidence from UK Data," Working Papers de Economia (Economics Working Papers) 40, Departamento de Economia, Gestão e Engenharia Industrial, Universidade de Aveiro. [Downloadable!]

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