Information Content of Dividends: Evidence from Istanbul

This study investigates the market reaction to dividend change announcements at the Istanbul Stock Exchange. A sample of 184 announcements made by 46 companies during the period 2005 to 2008 is analyzed by using the event study methodology. The results suggest that the market reacts positively to dividend increases, negatively to dividend decreases and does not react when dividends are not changed, consistent with the signaling hypothesis. Also, the results show pre-event information leakage for the decreasing dividends sample.