ABSTRACT
This, and the chapter which follows, focus on the financial performance of a random sample of 28 companies, that are listed on the New York Stock Exchange, for (unless otherwise indicated) eighteen-year periods ending in 1991. As in the analysis of the financial performance of the Nonfinancial Corporate Business sector, a distinction is made between the possible consequences of HC earnings-based distribution decisions, which are the subject of the present chapter, and; the relationships between HC and CF-MV profit and profitability measures which are examined in chapter 8. The commentaries on the post-war financial performance of the Nonfinancial Corporate Business sector that are contained in chapters 3, 4 and 5, therefore constitute a foundation, and provide yardsticks, for the analyses which follow.
