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Dividend reductions, the timing of dividend payments and information content

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  • Balachandran, Balasingham
  • Krishnamurti, Chandrasekhar
  • Theobald, Michael
  • Vidanapathirana, Berty

Abstract

Australian companies pay dividends semi-annually with smaller “interim” payments and larger “final” payments. Interim dividends are declared and paid within a less full information environment than final dividends. We analyze the interactions between the timing of dividends and their information content, controlling for share repurchase and tax effects. Dividend reductions that are not associated with share repurchases are statistically significantly related to future abnormal earnings and provide strong support for the information content of dividend reductions. The percentage of dividend reduction is stronger for interim than for final dividend reductions. The market reaction is negatively related to the reduction in imputation tax credit and reacts more aggressively and negatively to interim as compared to final dividend reductions.

Suggested Citation

  • Balachandran, Balasingham & Krishnamurti, Chandrasekhar & Theobald, Michael & Vidanapathirana, Berty, 2012. "Dividend reductions, the timing of dividend payments and information content," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 1232-1247.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:corfin:v:18:y:2012:i:5:p:1232-1247
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2012.08.002
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Scott Walker, 2015. "Repeated Dividend Increases: A Collection of Four Essays," PhD Thesis, Finance Discipline Group, UTS Business School, University of Technology, Sydney, number 2-2015, January-A.
    2. Warwick Anderson & Wen Kang, 2018. "The Relative Announcement Effects of Ordinary Dividends, Special Dividends and Share Buybacks in New Zealand," Working Papers in Economics 18/02, University of Canterbury, Department of Economics and Finance.
    3. Chanchal Chatterjee & Paromita Dutta & Sankarshan Basu, 2024. "Evidence-based Stock Price Behaviour Around Cash Dividend Announcements in an Emerging Market Set-up," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 25(2_suppl), pages 265-282, April.
    4. Scott Walker, 2015. "Repeated Dividend Increases: A Collection of Four Essays," PhD Thesis, Finance Discipline Group, UTS Business School, University of Technology, Sydney, number 17, July-Dece.
    5. Cordelia Omodero, 2022. "The Role Of Corporate Tax, Earnings And Debt In Determining Dividend Policy Of Firms," Business Management, D. A. Tsenov Academy of Economics, Svishtov, Bulgaria, issue 3 Year 20, pages 46-69.
    6. Balachandran, Balasingham & Khan, Arifur & Mather, Paul & Theobald, Michael, 2019. "Insider ownership and dividend policy in an imputation tax environment," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 153-167.
    7. Nguyen, Truong-Giang, 2020. "Stock liquidity and dividend policy: Evidence from an imputation tax environment," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    8. Amin, Abu S. & Dutta, Shantanu & Saadi, Samir & Vora, Premal P., 2015. "Institutional shareholding and information content of dividend surprises: Re-examining the dynamics in dividend-reappearance era," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 152-170.
    9. Balachandran, Balasingham & Nguyen, Justin Hung, 2018. "Does carbon risk matter in firm dividend policy? Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in an imputation environment," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 249-267.
    10. Booth, Laurence & Zhou, Jun, 2017. "Dividend policy: A selective review of results from around the world," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 1-15.
    11. Henry, Darren & Nguyen, Lily & Pham, Viet Hung, 2017. "Institutional trading before dividend reduction announcements," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 40-55.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Price reactions; Australia; Dividend reductions; Information content; Franked and unfranked; Interim and final;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G35 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Payout Policy

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