The ex-dividend day: Action on and off the danish exchange

We examine ex-dividend day behavior on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange. We report price-drop ratios of 32% and 18% for close-to-close and close-to-open samples, respectively, well below the ratios observed in the United States. Our findings are generally consistent with limit order adjustment explanations from recent literature. In Denmark, a unique average price trading opportunity makes it possible for investors to capture dividends without directly altering supply or demand in the regular market, and therefore not necessarily driving the price-drop ratios toward one.