Kudos to the author for discussing this complex question.

I came to this blog via google because I was curious about CFA exam questions on share repurchases. On another website I found a reference to the CFA Program Curriculum (2015), Volume 4, page 128, question 38.f.: "explain why a cash dividend and a share repurchase of the same amount are equivalent in terms of the effect on shareholders' wealth, all else being equal."

Whenever people in finance write "all else being equal", that alone tells me they have no valid scientific arguments for their claims. If finance professors were properly trained in deductive reasoning and basic algebra, calculus and probability theory they should realize that share repurchases and dividends are NOT equivalent. The proper math is outlined here:

http://hvass-labs.blogspot.hu/2014/02/how-to-value-apples-share-buyback…