We propose a novel method to forecast corporate earnings, which combines the accuracy of analysts’ forecasts with the unbiasedness of a cross-sectional model. We build on recent insights from the earnings forecasts literature to improve analysts’ forecasts in two ways: reducing their...

This study's underlying premise is that current pension plan accounting has two important negative effects. First, it distorts the measurement of earnings and net worth in the short run, as well as the pattern of earnings over future periods. Second, this distortion can send incorrect signals to...

This study investigates the informational effect of stock liquidity on dividend payouts. Using a sam- ple of Polish listed companies during 2000 - 2012, I do not find a relation between stock liquidi- ty and dividend payouts. This result is robust to the use of alternative measures of liquidity,...

We examine stock prices and the number of stocks traded around ex-dividend dates of German stocks with tax-free dividend. Tax-free dividends are temporarily tax-exempt, as they reduce the initial purchasing price of a stock. With our analysis of this particular group of German stocks, we can...

This article documents how the changing composition of U.S. publicly traded firms has prompted a decline in the long-run mean of the aggregate dividend-price ratio, most notably since the 1970s. Adjusting the dividend-price ratio for such changes resolves several issues with respect to the...

Standard equity valuation approaches (i.e., DDM, RIM, and DCF model) are derived under the assumption of ideal conditions, such as infinite payoffs and clean surplus accounting. Because these conditions are hardly ever met, we extend the standard approaches, based on the fundamental principle of...

This paper investigates how information asymmetry and mutual fund ownership affect listed companies' earnings management. We show that (1) reducing information asymmetry improves firms' earnings management behavior; (2) relative to short-term mutual funds, long-term mutual funds promote earnings...

Post-earnings-announcement drift (PEAD) is one of the most solidly documented asset pricing anomalies. We use the controlled conditions of an experimental lab to investigate whether earnings autocorrelation is the driving cause of this anomaly. We observe PEAD in settings with uncorrelated and...

We study 852 companies with dividend reinvestment plans in 1999 matched by total assets to 852 companies without such plans. We use discrete choice methods to predict the classification of these companies. We interpret the misclassified companies as being likely to switch their plan status. That...

Our analysis finds that, although a growing number of savings banks are making payouts, the majority do not make any. Furthermore, savings banks distribute only a small part of their net profit to the shareholders. This means that they can build up capital despite making payouts. Savings banks...