The Lintner model is an economic formula for determining an optimal corporate dividend policy. It was proposed in 1956 by former Harvard Business School professor John Lintner and focuses on two core notions:

1. A company's target payout ratio
2. The speed at which current dividends adjust to the target.

Though originally a descriptive model intended to explain how firms are observed to set dividends, the model has also been used as a prescriptive model of how firms should set dividend policy.