Dividend Policy or Phone Skills for the Information Age

Dividend Policy: Theory and Practice

Author: George M Frankfurter

"Frankfurter and Wood challenge establishment theory on dividend policy with an eclectic and sophisticated survey of current practice that also makes reading academic finance enjoyable."
--Myron J. Gordon, Professor of Finance, University of Toronto, Canada

"A valuable and complete guide to all you need to know about dividends."
--Donald J. Mullineaux, Director, School of Management, duPont Chair in Banking and Financial Services, University of Kentucky, Lexington, U.S.A.

"Celebrating Ken Arrow's Nobel Prize, Paul Samuelson commented that the theory of democracy can never be the same since Arrow. After the publication of George Frankfurter and Bob Wood's breath-taking Dividend Policy financial economics cannot be the same as before."
--Manfred J. Holler, University of Hamburg, Germany

Dividend Policy explores the puzzle presented by dividends: irrational and subject to fashion, yet popular and desirable, they remain a priority among managers, even while perceived as largely symbolic. After exploring the history of dividend payments, from the emergence of the modern corporation to current perspectives, it traces the evolution of academic models on dividend policy. Here the authors review models of symmetric and asymmetric information before analyzing academia's accomplishments in solving the dividend puzzle. Related subjects, such as valuation and wealth distribution, round out the authors' presentation about new ways to think about one of the most intriguing subjects in financial economics.

Table of Contents:

	Preface
Pt. I	The Historical Evolution of Dividends
Ch. 1	Introduction	3
Ch. 2	The Evolution of the Modern Corporation in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom
2.1	Early Joint Stock Companies: Origins to 1720	11
2.2	Revival of the Joint Stock Companies: 1800-1900	18
Ch. 3	The Evolution of the Modern Corporation in the United States of America
3.1	From the Revolution to the End of the 18th Century	21
3.2	The 19th Century	24
3.3	The Early 20th Century	29
3.4	The Origins of No-par Stock Issues	29
3.5	The Boom and the Bust	31
3.6	Post-World War II	34
Ch. 4	200 Years of Dividend Practices
4.1	Introduction	41
4.2	Dividend Patterns	44
4.3	Dividend Reinvestment Plans (DRIPs)	45
4.4	Conclusion	47
Ch. 5	Dividend Reinvestment Plans: A Puzzle within the Puzzle
5.1	Introduction	49
5.2	DRIPs Literature	53
5.3	DRIP Characteristics	55
5.4	Conclusions	61
Ch. 6	Preferred Stock and Dividends: A Revealing Divergence
6.1	The Origins of Preferred Stock	64
6.2	The Maturation and Specialization of Preferred Stock	66
Pt. II	The Evolution of Academic Research on Dividend Policy
Ch. 7	Early Academic Thinking and Research	71
Ch. 8	Models of Symmetric Information and Empirical Research
8.1	Theoretical Models	81
8.2	Empirical Investigation of the Tax Effect on Dividends	83
Ch. 9	Models of Asymmetric Information and Empirical Research
9.1	Signaling and "The Information Content of Dividend" Hypothesis	91
9.2	Formal Signaling Models and Their Empirical Tests	92
9.3	Empirical Tests of the Informational Content of the Dividend Hypothesis	97
9.4	Agency Cost Theory	100
9.5	The Free Cash Flow Hypothesis	101
Ch. 10	Determinants of Dividend Policies
10.1	Method of Analysis	108
10.2	Empirical Results	112
10.3	Summary and Conclusions	132
Pt. III	What Academic Research Proves and what it does not Prove
Ch. 11	The "Balance Sheet" of Academic Research: What It Does/Does Not Prove
11.1	Method of Analysis	144
11.2	Data	146
11.3	Results	147
11.4	Conclusions	153
Pt. IV	New Ways of Thinking About Dividends and Dividend Policy
Ch. 12	Unconventional Explanations
12.1	Managerial Surveys	168
12.2	Theoretical Behavioral Models	169
Ch. 13	Dividend Policy of Regulated Industries
13.1	Dividend Policy and Corporate Monitoring	175
13.2	Real Estate Investment Trusts	183
13.3	Summary	183
Ch. 14	What if We Do Not Pay Dividends?	187
Ch. 15	Other Methods of Distribution
15.1	Stock Dividends and Stock Splits	193
15.2	Stock Repurchase	206
15.3	Greenmail	220
Ch. 16	Conclusions: Future Research and Thinking	229
	Index	233

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Phone Skills for the Information Age

Author: Dorothy A Maxwell

This five-hour program teaches proper phone use to help students develop and maintain professional relationships, project a positive company image, and provide reliable service. Phone Skills for the Information Age features realistic situations and problems found in today's increasingly complex business environments. The text includes reinforcement exercises, self-assessments, case studies, reference charts for on-the-job use, and a glossary.