期刊名称：International Review of Management and Business Research
印刷版ISSN：2307-5953
电子版ISSN：2306-9007
出版年度：2019
卷号：8
期号：3 Par 1
页码：1-6
出版社：Academy of IRMBR
摘要：The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is arguably the world’s most widely watch stock market index. It
is calculated as a simple unweighted arithmetic mean or average. Previous papers noted several flaws with
the calculation which limits its usefulness as an overall or broad market gauge. Those flaws include its
small sample size and it use of the summed market prices, not the summed market values of the component
stocks. There is also the problem of the necessity to revise the divisor whenever stock dividends and splits
occur. This brief paper will examine the “divisor problem” in far more detail than the earlier papers. The
paper will first review the calculation of the average and briefly review prior discussed flaws. It will then
explore the large number of divisor revisions during the period 1926, when the current calculation was
constructed, through 2018. These changes have been the result of numerous stock splits and stock
dividends over time. The direct result of all these divisor changes has been the steady and persistent
decline in the meaning of a point change. It will be argued that, sooner or later, the calculation of the Dow
may have to be changed.
关键词：Stock Market Averages; Dow Jones Industrial Average; Statistical Problems;
