We compare dividend policies of U.S. and Japanese firms, partitioning the Japanese data into keiretsu, independent, and hybrid firms. We examine the correlation between dividend changes and stock returns, and the reluctance to change dividends. Results are consistent with the joint hypotheses...

This paper compares dividend policies of US and Japanese firms, partitioning Japanese data into keiretsu, independent, and hybrid firms. Patterns in the data are consistent with the hypothesis that Japanese dividends are less informative. Specifically, Japanese firms experience smaller stock...