Selected Publications

We show that as more firms announce dividend increases exactly every four quarters, dividend policy has become more persistent and more predictable. Recently, nearly 60% of all dividend increases have been announced in four-quarter cycles. We provide evidence that this structure is incorporated into market participants’ expectations about future dividend announcements. These findings may provide an explanation for two phenomena described in the literature: the declining information content of dividends and the higher degree of dividend smoothing.
In Journal of Corporate Finance

We analyze how the introduction of repurchases affected the payout policy of German firms. Our results are inconsistent with the hypothesis that dividends and repurchases are perfect substitutes. We also find that repurchases have not taken over the role of special dividends. Our results support the flexibility hypothesis that predicts that (regular) dividends are used to disburse permanent, and more flexible payout methods (special dividends and repurchases) transitory, earnings.
In Journal of Banking & Finance

After retirement CEOs of German firms often become members of the supervisory board. Their expertise may be valuable, but there is a potential for conflicts of interest. We find executive compensation to increases around CEO transitions. The effect on share price and operating performance is neutral or positive. The results provide no rationale for new regulation constraining CEO transitions.
In Journal of Corporate Finance

Publications in Journals

(english)

All Publications

  • Dividend Policy, Corporate Control and the Tax Status of the Controlling Shareholder

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  • Open Market Share Repurchases in Germany: A Conditional Event Study Approach

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  • Do What You Did Four Quarters Ago: Trends and Implications of Quarterly Dividends

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  • The Lintner model revisited: Dividends versus total payouts

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  • Should I stay or should I go? Former CEOs as monitors

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  • Do markets anticipate capital structure decisions? — Feedback effects in equity liquidity

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  • Underwriter reputation and the quality of certification: Evidence from high-yield bonds

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  • Is Busy Really Busy? Board Governance Revisited

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  • The Information Content of Dividend Surprises: Evidence from Germany

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  • Family Ownership, Financing Constraints and Investment Decisions

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  • Economic Consequences of Private Equity Investments on the German Stock Market

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  • Dividend policy of German firms: A panel data analysis of partial adjustment models

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  • Large shareholders and firm performance—An empirical examination of founding-family ownership

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  • Setting a fox to keep the geese — Does the comply-or-explain principle work?

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  • Shareholder Wealth Gains Through Better Corporate Governance - The Case of European LBO-Transactions

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Recent Posts

This is my new home on the web. It recently occurred to me that my personal website contained very little to no (personal) information beyond the stuff you can find on my institutional website at WHU. Like many fellow academics, I intended to set it up to showcase my research a few years ago when I was on the job market. It never reached that point and has become a more or less useless summary of publication titles.

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Teaching

I am a teaching instructor for the following courses at WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management:

  • Full and Part-Time MBA Programs: Corporate Finance
  • Kellogg-WHU Executive MBA: Corporate Finance
  • Master of Science (Management and Finance tracks): Corporate Governance
  • Sports Business Academy by WHU: Accounting and Finance
  • Executive Education (Customized and Open Enrollment)

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