--%>

Effect of illegal obligations on cost of equity

If dividends paid to common stockholders are not legal obligations of a corporation, is the cost of equity zero?  Describe your answer.

Even though common stockholders do not contain a contractual claim on dividends the funds supplied by stockholders definitely contain a cost.  Equity investors are paid last and therefore they are taking the greatest risk among all of the suppliers of capital.  If the company does not get a higher rate of return onto equity funds to compensate for the higher risk taken through equity investors, the price of the stock will fall and thus the value of the firm. 

   Related Questions in Managerial Accounting

  • Q : Capital account on credit and debit side

    List the items that might appear on the debit side and credit side of a partner's fluctuating capital account. Answer: On debit side: Drawing, interest on drawing, c

  • Q : Capital expenditure Expenditure that

    Expenditure that increases the dollar amount of fixed assets on the balance sheet. These outlays either increase the value of assets already owned or add additional assets. The payments increase the future benefit of an asset by extending the life of the asset, increa

  • Q : Actual costing A function of measuring

    A function of measuring and assigning production costs to determine the unit cost. Actual revenue assigns the real cost of materials, labor, and overhead to ma

  • Q : Explain Investor Accounting Investor

    Investor Accounting: It is an individual who commits money to investment products with the hope of financial return. Usually, the primary concern of an investor is to diminish risk whereas maximizing return, as opposed to a speculator, who is willing

  • Q : Market Analysis and Logic 1.

      1. Contribution After Marketing Assume that the sales forecast for brand TOJO is 160,000 units, and that you expect to sell 50% of these units through mass merchandisers,

  • Q : Basic accounting principles or concepts

    ACCOUNTING CONCEPTS: Presented below are basic accounting principles or concepts, with which hospital managers should be familiar and that they should understand i

  • Q : Key areas which business objectives

    Write a short note on the key areas which business objectives want to achieve?

  • Q : Management accounting According to

    According to Martin and Steele (2010, p.13), “The two principal professional associations in Australia – CPA Australia (the CPA) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia (the Institute) have indicated their awareness of the significance of issues of sustainability reporting and develo

  • Q : What is Partnership Partnership :

    Partnership: Whenever two or more persons enter into an agreement to take on business and share its gain and losses, it is a condition of partnership. It can also define as: "Partnership is the relation among persons and who have granted to share the

  • Q : Explain Responsibility Segment

    Responsibility Segment: A noteworthy organizational, functional, operational, or process component that has the characteristics as: (i) Its manager reports to the entity's top management;