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Journal of Financial Economics Vol. 92 No. 1 2009

On the reversal of return and dividend growth predictability: A tale of two periods

Long Chen

Washington University in St. Louis

Abstract

A disconcerting, albeit generally accepted, finding is that aggregate stock returns are predictable by dividend yield but dividend growth is unpredictable. I show that part of this lack of dividend growth predictability stems from how dividend growth is constructed. I then show a dramatic reversal of predictability in the 134 years during 1872–2005: stock returns are largely unpredictable in the first seven decades, but become predictable in the postwar period; dividend growth is strongly predictable in the prewar years but this predictability disappears in the postwar years. New evidence on the predictability of long-run returns and dividend growth is also shown.

DOI
10.1016/j.jfineco.2008.04.004
Volume
92
Issue
1
Pages
128-151
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

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