Asymmetric information and opportunism in insider share-pledging

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael R. Puleo ◽  
Steven E. Kozlowski

PurposeAmid growing attention from investors, regulators and advisory firms in recent years, this study assesses whether managers exploit private information to time share-pledge transactions and extract personal benefits while avoiding unintended market scrutiny.Design/methodology/approachWe use hand-collected pledging data for a random sample of S&P 1500 firms to examine whether private information influences insider share-pledging activity using Heckman selection and two-part hurdle models of the pledge decision. We also conduct an event study analysis of announcement returns to measure market reactions to pledging news and determine whether share-pledge disclosures affect investor risk assessments.FindingsConsistent with insiders timing pledges prior to anticipated performance declines, both the likelihood and level of pledging increase significantly with negative earnings surprises. New share-pledges precede significant decreases in abnormal returns, and public announcement of new pledging corresponds with significant negative cumulative abnormal returns. The evidence suggests that insiders exploit private information to time pledges, and that investors update risk assessments and value estimates based on information conveyed by these transactions.Practical implicationsOur findings hold important implications for governance and regulation of pledged shares, indicating that permissive reporting requirements in the US facilitate informed pledging and may undermine incentive alignment between managers and shareholders. The analysis promotes transaction-specific disclosures and transparent corporate policies for insider share-pledging.Originality/valueOurs is among the first empirical analyses of share-pledging in US firms and the first to examine the role of private information in pledging decisions. We offer novel evidence on the opportunistic use of pledged shares and provide insight to predictors of share-pledging behavior.

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 745-758 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heejin Woo

Purpose This study aims to investigate how new CEOs’ previous experiences in other organizations and other industries create value in acquisitions. Drawing on the upper echelon perspective, this study theorizes that the multiorganizational experience of new CEOs is positively associated with acquisition performance and, in particular, that the multi-industry experience of new CEOs leads to better performance in diversifying acquisitions than in related acquisitions. While new CEOs without multiorganizational experience undergo a cognitive entrenchment in firm-specific experience, new CEOs with multiorganizational experience can lead acquisitions with more flexibility and agility. Design/methodology/approach Acquisition and organizational data were drawn from the US manufacturing industries (SIC 20-39) between 2008 and 2010. The event study method was used to test hypotheses. In 346 acquisitions made by 139 firms, acquisition performance was measured according to cumulative abnormal returns. Findings Consistent with the hypotheses, the multiorganizational experience of new CEOs was positively associated with acquisition performance and, in particular, the multi-industry experience of new CEOs led to better performance in diversifying acquisitions than in related acquisitions. Originality/value This paper contributes to the CEO literature and acquisition literature by suggesting that the multiorganizational experience of new CEOs can be a valuable source of competitive advantages, particularly when implementing corporate strategies involving interorganizational integration processes.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Araceli Hernández González

PurposeThis study aims to provide evidence of market reactions to organizations' inclusion of people with disabilities. Cases from financial journals in 1989–2014 were used to analyze the impact of actions taken by organizations to include or discriminate people with disabilities in terms of the companies' stock prices.Design/methodology/approachThis research is conducted as an event study where the disclosure of information on an organization's actions toward people with disabilities is expected to impact the organization's stock price. The window of the event was set as (−1, +1) days. Stock prices were analyzed to detect abnormal returns during this period.FindingsResults support the hypotheses that investors value inclusion and reject discrimination. Furthermore, the impact of negative actions is immediate, whereas the impact of positive actions requires at least an additional day to influence the firm's stock price. Some differences among the categories were found; for instance, employment and customer events were significantly more important to a firm's stock price than philanthropic actions. It was observed that philanthropic events produce negative abnormal returns on average.Originality/valueThe event study methodology provides a different perspective to practices in organizations regarding people with disabilities. Moreover, the findings in this research advance the literature by highlighting that organizations should consider policies and practices that include people with disabilities.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anis Jarboui ◽  
Emna Mnif

Purpose After the COVID-19 outbreak, the Federal Reserve has undertaken several monetary policies to alleviate the pandemic consequences on the markets. This paper aims to evaluate the effects of the Federal Reserve monetary policy on the cryptocurrency dynamics during the COVID19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach We examine the response and feedback effects via an event study methodology. For this purpose, abnormal returns (AR) and cumulative abnormal returns (CARs) around the first FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) announcement related to the COVID-19 pandemic for the top five cryptocurrencies are explored. We, further investigate the effect of the eight FOMC statement announcements during the COVID19 pandemic on these cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, Litecoin, and Ripple). In the above-mentioned crypto-currency markets, we investigate the presence of bubbles by using the PSY test. We then examine the concordance of the dates of these bubbles with the dates of the FOMC announcements. Findings The empirical results show that the first FOMC event has a negative significant effect after 4 days of the announcement date for all studied cryptocurrencies except Tether. The results also indicate that cumulative abnormal returns are significant during the event windows of (−3,8), (−3,9), and (−3,10). Besides, we find that Bitcoin, Ethereum and, Litecoin lived short bubbles lasting for a few days. However, Ripple and Tether markets present no bubbles and no explosive periods. Research limitations/implications This paper presents trained proof that FOMC announcements have a positive effect on volatility's predictive capacity. This work therefore promotes the study of the data quality of volatility in future research as well. Practical implications The justified effect of the FOMC announcements on cryptocurrency as a speculative asset has practical implications for investors in building their trading strategies in anticipation of the next FOMC announcement. Therefore, this study implies that the FOMC announcements contain very relevant information for investors in the cryptocurrency market. This research may not only encourage a better understanding of the evolution of the expectations of policymakers, but also facilitate a better understanding of how these expectations are developed. Originality/value The COVID-19 pandemic has disturbed the stability of financial markets, inciting the Fed to take some monetary regulations. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first one that analyses the response of five major cryptocurrencies to FOMC announcements during COVID 19 pandemic and associates these dates with bubble occurrences.


2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 510-544 ◽  
Author(s):  
Armin Varmaz ◽  
Jonas Laibner

Purpose This paper aims to empirically analyze the success of European bank mergers and acquisitions (M&As) by an analysis of the shareholder value implications of stock market reactions to announced and canceled M&As in the period from 1999 to 2015. Design/methodology/approach The analysis of a sample of 467 announced and 54 canceled European bank M&As is conducted using event study methodology. The determinants of the shareholder value creations in M&A are observed in cross-sectional regressions. The likelihood of M&As being canceled is estimated in logit regressions. Findings The paper finds that European bank M&As have not been successful in terms of shareholder value creation for acquiring banks, whereas targets experienced significant value gains. Abnormal returns for bidders and targets exhibit the same characteristics upon the announcement of M&As that are canceled at a later date, whereas the results for transaction cancelations deviate. Targets experience negative abnormal returns at a larger size than upon the transaction announcement. The findings for bidders are striking, as they destroy shareholder value upon the transaction cancelation, also, consequently they suffer twice. In particular, banks with higher profitability, higher efficiency and lower liquidity experience negative abnormal returns around the announcement dates. Negative abnormal returns prior to the transaction announcement and provision for loan losses increase significantly the likelihood of M&A cancelation. Originality/value This paper contributes to the literature expanding existing analyses to the shareholder value implications of canceled European bank M&As in a 17-year long time period. The findings reveal the destructive characteristics of canceled bank M&As and provide innovative insights into European capital market reaction to canceled M&As.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emie Famieza Zainudin ◽  
Hafiza Aishah Hashim ◽  
Shahnaz Ismail

Purpose This paper aims to examine the effect of the imposition of public reprimands on the underlying stock prices of companies in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach Data on 148 companies that received public reprimands during the period from 2007 to 2013 were collected from the Bursa Malaysia website to analyse the market reactions to the imposition of public reprimands. Findings Based on a market model of abnormal returns, the empirical result showed that the imposition of a public reprimand had a negative impact on a company’s stock price. Moreover, when a market model of average abnormal returns (AAR) was used, the result indicated that companies that had received a public reprimand had a negative AAR value. Research limitations/implications The findings from this study have implications for shareholders in making their investment decisions because they can switch their investments to other companies and markets after a company in which they are interested or have made an investment has received a public reprimand. Originality/value There is limited research on the imposition of public reprimands and the effect that it has on companies in developing countries. Hence, this study contributes to research in this area by providing evidence on the effect of public reprimand on stock price reactions in the context of a developing country, namely, Malaysia.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 470-483
Author(s):  
Tai-Young Kim

Purpose This paper aims to investigate pre-disclosure information leakage by block traders and market reactions to disclosures of off-hours block trading compared to off-market trading. Design/methodology/approach Stock responses were analyzed based on timely disclosures regarding Korean firms’ decisions to dispose of their own shares to improve their financial structures. Findings The results showed that pre-disclosure abnormal returns were generated in off-hours block trading. In contrast, on disclosure days, the returns for off-hours block trading were significantly lower than those for off-market trading. It was consistent with prior studies, indicating that block traders were related to information leakage and caused moral hazard problems. Originality/value The comparison between off-hours block trading and off-market trading provides important insights regarding block traders’ behavior. This study’s findings on the leakage of information from block traders indicate the need for firms to exercise caution when using block traders.


2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (7) ◽  
pp. 966-979
Author(s):  
Ghadi Saad ◽  
Taoufik Bouraoui

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the question whether democratic transition elections influence currency returns. Also, the paper examines the behavior of the currency market around these elections in Tunisia. Design/methodology/approach Empirical data are collected from the International Monetary Fund, the Central Bank of Tunisia and the Tunisian stock market websites. The paper employs event study analysis using a market model and investigates abnormal currency returns around the four election events that occurred during the period of democratic transition in Tunisia (2011–2015). A robustness test is also conducted to control for monetary policy effects. Findings The results indicate that democratic transition does impact currency returns. The authors did not find any significant effect on the events dates (t0). However, event windows around the elections days reacted significantly to the events. The authors notice a significant decrease in cumulative abnormal returns (CARs) at event periods leading up to the elections. Post-event windows perceived negative CARs in the first and second election, and positive CARs in the last two elections. The authors also find that the change in the victors of the elections does not cause major differences to CARs. Further, the authors do not find significant results when controlling for inflation and interest rate. Originality/value There is no evidence yet on how democratic transition elections can affect currency returns. Given that currency is a leading indicator of the performance of the financial sector, this paper should provide policymakers with new evidence on the response of currency returns to democratic transition.


2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 211-222
Author(s):  
Guglielmo Maria Caporale ◽  
Alex Plastun

PurposeThis paper explores abnormal price changes in the FOREX by using both daily and intraday data on the EURUSD, USDJPY, USDCAD, AUDUSD and EURJPY exchange rates over the period 01.01.2008–31.12.2018.Design/methodology/approachIt applies a dynamic trigger approach to detect abnormal price changes and then various statistical methods, including cumulative abnormal returns analysis, to test the following hypotheses: the intraday behaviour of hourly returns on overreaction days is different from that on normal days (H1), there are detectable patterns in intraday price dynamics on days with abnormal price changes (H2) and on the following days (H3).FindingsThe results suggest that there are statistically significant differences between intraday dynamics on days with abnormal price changes and normal days respectively; also, prices tend to change in the direction of the abnormal change during that day, but move in the opposite direction on the following day. Finally, there exist trading strategies that generate abnormal profits by exploiting the detected anomalies, which can be seen as evidence of market inefficiency.Originality/valueNew evidence on abnormal price changes and related trading strategies in the FOREX.


Subject Financial market reactions to the pandemic Significance While policymakers and epidemiologists broadly agree that the only viable approach for substantially relaxing lockdowns and social distancing measures is mass community testing and contact tracing, there are significant differences of opinion on how sharply infection curves need to flatten before restrictions are eased. The risk that lockdowns -- which have become dangerously politicised -- will be lifted prematurely, causing a second wave of infections, poses a significant threat to the global economy and markets. Impacts The US S&P 500 equity index has surged since late March, but the bleak corporate earnings outlook means this is unlikely to be a bull run. The spread between Italian and German bonds has widened since late March, reflecting investors' persistent doubts about EU cooperation. The major central banks are likely to invest more than twice as much in sovereign and corporate bonds as in 2008, distorting bond markets.


2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Killins ◽  
Peter V. Egly

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the long-run performance of a unique set of US domiciled firms that have bypassed the US capital markets in pursuit of their initial public offering (IPO) overseas. Additionally, this paper then tests the popular underwriter prestige impact and the window of opportunity hypothesis on this unique subset of IPOs. Design/methodology/approach Using a sample of foreign and purely domestic IPOs made by US firms from 2000 to 2011, this study investigates the long-term performance, one-, two- and three-year by using two measures (buy-and-hold return and cumulative abnormal returns) to test the long-run returns of newly listed companies. Finally, the research incorporates both the traditional matching methodology (issue year and size) along with propensity score matching methodology. Findings FIPOs of US companies underperform DIPOs and their matched DIPOs; furthermore, FIPOs underperform the index of the two listing countries they use the most (UK and Canada). Although the choice of a reputable underwriter mitigates underperformance, the choice of listing in a foreign country only may be a result of possible high valuations accorded by foreign investors who buy US-listed companies on the domestic exchange possibly for reducing exchange rate risk and gaining US diversification without incurring additional costs. It is, thus, possible that US companies that undertake Foreign IPOs not only escape potentially higher Security and Exchange Commission regulations and disclosure but also benefit from higher valuations in the foreign markets. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the long-term performance of US firms bypassing the US capital markets in pursuit of their initial equity offering elsewhere. Caglio et al. (2016) investigated why firms decide to pursue such equity raising activity but fail to investigate the firms’ actual performance after issuing equity. This research fills such a gap in the literature and is important for both academics and practitioners. Practitioners can use this information in assessing the quality of such investments in the long-run, and firms can use such information when determining the different options of issuing equity. Further, regulators should be aware of the implications that increased regulations have on capital raising activities in their domestic market.


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