This paper analyzes the characteristics of earnings in valuation settings where the dividend policy is irrelevant to equity value. The paper first demonstrates an equivalent characterization of dividend policy irrelevancy (DPI) in a general linear dynamic. It then proceeds to show how DPI leads...

Standard formulas for valuing the equity of going concerns require prediction of payoffs "to infinity" but practical analysis requires that they be predicted over finite horizons. This truncation inevitably involves (often troublesome) "terminal value" calculations. This paper contrasts dividend...