| Summary: | 碩士 === 德明財經科技大學 === 財務金融系理財與稅務管理碩士班 === 103 === This paper resumes the study of Lee, Liu, Yeats, and Chang (2014) and examines weekday factors that affect corporate decisions regarding ex-dividend and payment dates. We try to examine if the dividend-paying behavior of New Zealand is similar to either the U.S. or Taiwan. The target sample covers 712 events, from 2012 to 2015. One special feature of the New Zealand Stock Exchange is that the dividends paid by firms are denominated in either New Zealand dollars or other currencies. There are 629 events of dividends denominated in New Zealand dollars. The durations between the ex-dividend and payment dates ranged from 4 to 51 days, while the mean is 15.38 days, and the median is 16 days. Most conspicuously, the two mostly common chosen durations between the ex-dividend and payment dates are 9 and 16 days, with respective proportions of 18.3% and 32.5%. A dividend-payer is most likely to go ex-dividend on a Wednesday (57.6%), and pay the cash on a Friday (47.2%). As to another independent sample of firms paying non-NZD dividends, with 83 events, the durations between the ex-dividend and payment dates ranged from 15 to 63 days, while the mean is 32.51 days, and the median is 32 days. The three most commonly chosen durations are 23, 30, and 37 days, with respective proportions of 11.6%, 19.8%, and 20.9%. These firms are also most likely to go ex-dividend on a Wednesday (68.6%), and pay the cash on a Friday (57%). Consequently, these time spans are clustered around 7, 16, 23, 30, and 37 days, i.e. with gaps of 7 days. This paper confirms the notion that the number 7 plays a salient role in corporate decisions relating to time spans, due to the significance of the weekly cycle in our lives.
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