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We test alternative hypotheses on a sample of Chinese stock dividends. The inverse Mills ratio, a signal about future performance, is positively related to announcement returns but does not predict higher future performance. Analysts do not revise their earnings forecasts after the announcement date. Our results are more consistent with liquidity-based theories. We find that managers choose higher stock dividend ratios if share prices deviate more from the industry-wide average. Increases in proportional spreads, depth, and the number of trades and decreases in average trade size, and price impact suggest greater participation of liquidity and small investors following stock dividends.

The method is the first example of the highly enantioselective reductive coupling of ketones and hydrazones reported to date.

Aryl alkyl ethers, which are widely used throughout the chemical industry, are typically produced via the Williamson ether synthesis. Olefin hydroaryloxylation potentially offers a much more atom-economical alternative. Known acidic catalysts for hydroaryloxylation, however, afford very poor selectivity. We report the organometallic-catalyzed intermolecular hydroaryloxylation of unactivated olefins by iridium “pincer” complexes. These catalysts do not operate via the hidden Bronsted acid pathway common to previously developed transition-metal-based catalysts. The reaction is proposed to proceed via olefin insertion into an iridium–alkoxide bond, followed by rate-determining C–H reductive elimination to yield the ether product. The reaction is highly chemo- and regioselective and offers a new approach to the atom-economical synthesis of industrially important ethers and, potentially, a wide range of other oxygenates.