On the Determinants of Dividends ’ Information Content

This paper examines the determinants of dividends ’ information content. We put an emphasis on the role of ownership structure in explaining the impact of dividends on shareholders ’ wealth. To this end, our study examined a sample of 136 French firms during the year 2007 to empirically validate our model. The empirical results show a negative reaction of stock prices to dividend announcement. This finding is consistent with the hypothesis of deterioration of growth opportunities. However, we have concluded that firms ’ characteristics significantly affect dividends ’ information content