These studies are retrospective. It doesnt really help to look backwards and say "the stocks that paid high dividends beat the SP500" -- you need to be able to predict and invest in the right stocks before the dividend is paid. I mean, it's akin to saying "the fastest growing companies last yesr beat the SP500" -- ok, great, but how can you know ahead of time exactly which companies those will be?

Now if you know of a high dividend ETF or some backtested strategy that has consistently beaten the total market, I'd be all ears!