We examine the accuracy of various approximations of firms' repurchases of common stock used in previous studies, and find that decreases in shares outstanding as reported by CRSP and purchases of common stock and preferred stock (adjusted for changes in preferred stock) are good measures of...

We examine the accuracy of various estimates of firms' repurchases of common stock used in earlier studies, and find high error rates in the most commonly used estimators. We also find that the procedure used to estimate open market share repurchases can significantly impact results. The...

Our results indicate that the declining propensity to pay is a function of the changing composition of firms over time and not a declining propensity in individual firms themselves. In particular, the propensity to pay is greater than expected following the 2003 dividend tax cut. The decade a...