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Journal of Financial Economics Vol. 12 No. 2 1983

Shareholder wealth, information signaling and the specially designated dividend

James A. Brickley

University of Utah

Abstract

This paper examines common stock returns and dividend and earnings patterns surrounding specially designated dividends labeled by management as ‘extra’, ‘special’ or ‘year-end’ and compares them to those surrounding regular (unlabeled) dividend increases. The results support the notion that management uses the labeling of dividend increases to convey information to the market about the future potential of the firm. Unlabeled increases appear to contain the most positive information. Contrary to the sometimes suggested view, specially designated dividends appear to convey positive information about future dividends and earnings beyond that relating to the current period.

DOI
10.1016/0304-405x(83)90035-1
Volume
12
Issue
2
Pages
187-209
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

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