Empirical Corporate Finance

* Table of Content
Table of Content i 1 The Porsche Takeover 1 2 FPL Case 3 2.1 Expected Reaction of Stock Price 3 2.1.1 The Modigliani/Miller Theorem 3 2.1.2 The Tax Theory of Dividends 4 2.1.3 The Signaling Theory of Dividends 5 2.1.4 Agency Costs 5 2.1.5 Theory of Dividends Based on Tax Clienteles 6 2.2 Chart in the Light of Previous Theories 7 3 Elton and Gruber (1970): “Marginal Stock Holders tax Rates and the Clientele effect”, Review of Economics and Statistics 52, p. 68-74 8 3.1 Investors’ Marginal Tax Rate 8 3.2 Ex-Dividend Price Decline 8 3.3 Equal Tax Rates 9 4 Reference List 9
Allen, F., Bernardo, A.E., & Welch, I. (2000). A theory of dividends based on tax 9 clienteles. The Journal of Finance, 55(6), S. 2499-2536 9

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The Porsche Takeover
To answer the question it has to be distinguished between common stocks (ordinary shares) and preferred stocks: Common stock (ordinary stock) can be defined as a “security representing ownership of a corporation” (Brealey, Myers, & Allen, 2011, p. 913). In this context ownership means “the right to the cash flows and the right to take all financing, and investment decisions, and full cash flow and full control rights”. Preferred stock on the other hand can be defined as a “stock that takes priority over common stock in regard to dividends. Dividends may not be paid on common stocks unless dividend is paid on all preferred stocks. The dividend rate on preferred stock is usually fixed at time of issue” (Brealey, Myers, & Allen, 2011, p. 922).
The price difference (up to the end of August) between the ordinary share and the preferred share prices can, amongst other reasons, be explained by the 9% price premium, which German investors were willing to pay for the benefit of holding control rights. Additionally, the VW case is