Dividend Policy provides a comprehensive study of dividend policy. It explores the puzzle presented by dividends: irrational and subject to fashion, yet popular and desirable, they remain a priority among managers, even while perceived as largely symbolic.

After exploring the history of dividend payments, from the emergence of the modern corporation to current perspectives, it traces the evolution of academic models on dividend policy. Here the authors review models of symmetric and asymmetric information before analyzing academia's accomplishments in solving the dividend...