Revisiting the stock price impact of quality awards

In an event study, Hendricks and Singhal [Hendricks KB, Singhal VR. Quality awards and the market value of the firm: an empirical investigation. Management Sci 1996;42:415–36.] find evidence that firms that win quality awards are further rewarded with a stock price increase on the day of the award announcement. We revisit Hendricks and Singhal (1996), extend their research and find four reasons why management, owners and analysts should be cautious about expecting an abnormal return when a firm wins a quality award. First, in our sample of Baldrige Award winners, the evidence of a stock price response on the announcement day is only marginally significant. Second, in our sample of State quality award winners, the announcement day relationship between stock returns and winning awards is not significant. Third, in the most recent subperiod, 1992–1997, we find no evidence of positive abnormal returns. Fourth, the marginally significant Baldrige results are actually driven by just four companies. A company-by-company microanalysis reveals that only 50% of the award winners experienced positive abnormal returns. The diminishing stock price response on event day does not necessarily imply a lack of stockholder rewards. Evidence from other studies suggests that the stockholders are rewarded for successful total quality management (TQM) implementation, but the rewards can come long before and after the formal award is presented. From a shareholder value perspective, TQM still matters but the award ceremonies may not.     

投资者情绪指标与股票市场——基于扩展卡尔曼滤波方法的研究

基于扩展卡尔曼滤波(EKF)方法,首次构造出过滤市场噪声的投资者情绪指标,并在此基础上应用向量自回归模型分析我国投资者情绪指标与股票收益、股本规模等因素的经验关系,实证结果表明:(1)扩展卡尔曼滤波方法可以获得一个更加清晰反映投资者情绪的状态变量;(2)情绪的变化量比情绪指标本身具有更强的市场收益预测能力;(3)大规模公司股票的收益对投资者情绪的影响程度高于小规模公司股票,而投资者情绪对小规模公司股票的影响显著高于大规模公司的股票,并且情绪波动能够预测小规模股票的短期收益惯性和跨期收益反转的特征,证明情绪波动是影响资产定价的重要主观因素。     

Value-based management as a tailor-made management practice? A literature review

Value-based management is largely discussed as fundamental tool to manage organizations successfully. However, it is often criticized for its alleged incentive to maximize short-term profits. Thus, it is the aim of this study to shed more light on the role of value-based management for organizational success and discuss which firms seemingly benefit from the adoption of value-based management systems. Since adoption rates vary among firms, the implementation and its effect on organizational performance may be a matter of systematic circumstances. In particular, the extent of agency conflicts and arrangements to alleviate those conflicts designate where value-based management potentially serves as an effective monitoring instrument. Additionally, a more reactive strategic orientation and low growth opportunities imply a need for more efficient capital management as one lever to increase organizational performance. These conditions are accompanied by managerial characteristics and industry pressure that determine the use of value-based management systems, and do not undermine its incentive for efficient capital management. Hence, value-based management seems to be tailor-made for these specific circumstances.     

Dividend yield and stability versus performance on the German stock market: a descriptive study

It is often examined in the literature whether the dividend yields of stocks correlate with their total returns. This paper analyzes the effect of dividend yield on return as well as on risk and on performance of stocks and stock portfolios on the German market. Not only the influence of dividend yield but also of dividend stability is subject to our analysis. Furthermore, tax aspects are considered. However, this study should rather be seen as an empirical analysis of the influence of dividends as a capital market anomaly than a theoretical based validation approach. Our data set comprises daily adjusted stock prices and dividend payment data from the German capital market over the period 3 January 2000–31 July 2008. This period was characterized by a high volatility of the stock market. In addition to the existing literature examining mainly the long-term influence of dividend yields, we also want to find out whether stocks with high and stable dividend payments are able to reduce the risk of a stock investment in short time periods characterized by extreme conditions. We use blue chips (DAX), stocks of medium-sized companies (MDAX), and stocks of technology firms (TecDAX). Our findings suggest that stock performance generally improves with an increasing dividend yield, where this result is actually based on risk reduction instead of a higher return. However, this risk reduction diminishes with an increasing degree of diversification.     

The Stock Market Reaction to Investment Decisions: Evidence from Italy

Based on a study of new investment announcements from 1989 to 1995 by Italian firms listed on the Milan Stock Exchange, we find a positive stock price reaction to new investment decisions. The stock price reaction is larger for joint venture announcements. The market response is also larger for non-state owned companies and when the announcement is released in a period of rising stock prices. The announced investment has no impact on the non-voting shares but increases the voting shares' market price through a significant revaluation of their vote-segment. We find some evidence that new investments lead to management's private benefits rather than towards firm value. This is consistent with the typical Italian corporate governance structure, where a majority shareholder safely controls a listed company while having only a fractional claim on the firm's cash flows.     

A Field Study of RFID Deployment and Return Expectations

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology promises to transform supply chain management. Building on previous research in information systems and supply chain management, this paper proposes a theoretical framework for RFID adoption and benefits, and tests the framework using data on u. s. firms. Our analysis suggests that there is a positive association between information technology (IT) application deployment and RFID adoption. We find that RFID implementation spending and partner mandate are associated with an expectation of early return on RFID investment, and a perceived lack of industry‐wide standards is associated with an expectation of delayed return on RFID investment. These results suggest that firms with broad IT application deployment and a critical mass of RFID implementation spending are more likely to report early returns from RFID deployments. This paper extends previous research to understand the relationship between organization characteristics and adoption and expected benefits of the emerging RFID technology.     

International alliance formation and stock market responses:: Industry globalization as an environmental contingency

This study examines the effects of the degree of industry globalization on international alliance formation in terms of the type of alliance chosen by partner firms and stock market responses to the chosen type of alliance. Using a sample of 244 international alliances formed between U.S. and non-U.S. firms for the 1992–97 period, we find that nonjoint venture (joint venture) alliances take place relatively more frequently in global (multidomestic) industries than in multidomestic (global) industries. We also find that in global industries, abnormal returns to nonjoint venture partners are relatively greater than those to joint venture partners, whereas in multidomestic industries, abnormal returns to nonjoint venture partners are relatively smaller, though insignificant, than those to joint venture partners. Our findings suggest that the degree of industry globalization plays an important role in explaining which type of international alliance is likely to be chosen by partner firms when entering an alliance and how stock markets tend to respond to the chosen type of alliance.     

Kapitalmarktreaktionen auf Personalabbauprogramme: Welchen Einfluss haben Motiv,Umfang und Freiwilligkeit?

This study examines the effects of layoff announcements on the market value of German listed companies. Analyzing 136 announcements being published between 2000 and 2009, the results show marginal abnormal returns but high variance indicating that the market reaction might depend on specific characteristics. As potential determinants we particularly discuss the reasons for layoff, the size of layoff and the voluntariness of layoff. We find that reactive reasons like plant closures have a negative impact on shareholder value whilst active reasons like cost improvements enhance shareholder value. The size of layoff tends to induce negative effects. A voluntary layoff announcement however increases the value of a firm. Furthermore, we find a positive relationship between abnormal returns and human capital intensity and a negative one with both the manufacturing industry membership and financial leverage. In addition, the regression model extends prior literature since its coefficient of determination exceeds those in Anglo-American studies.     

行业、地区和市场信息,谁主导中国证券市场价格的变化

本文以我国A股市场为对象,基于CAPM和APT理论,建立单变量和多变量回归分析模型,探讨市场、行业和地区信息对证券价格的影响及其程度大小.结果表明:在我国证券市场中,一方面个股价格变化同时存在显著的行业和地区联动效应,但行业效应更强,行业信息主导着证券价格的变化.在控制了市场和地区信息后,行业信息仍具有信息增量提供能力.另一方面,行业信息与地区信息有互补性,市场信息可被行业和地区信息替代.另外,市场竞争越激烈的行业,行业联动效应越强.当企业变更行业类型时,新旧行业对股票价格变化的影响存在显著的差异.究其原因,与行业内的公司基本面之间所存在的显著正相关性相关.     

Der Einfluss von Neuproduktvorankündigungen auf den Shareholder Value: Eine empirische Untersuchung

This paper analyses 220 preannouncements of new products and their effect on shareholder value on American and European stock markets. Overall, the results show a positive significant reaction of abnormal returns on preannouncements. Additionally, determinants of the strength of the shareholder value effect are analyzed. Whereas market-related (country and industry) and preannouncement-related factors (detailedness of preannouncement, mentioning a launch date, and the preannouncement of multiple products) do not have an influence on the size of the effect, company-related and product-related factors can explain the magnitude of the reaction. Our model extends prior empirical literature by showing a higher explained variance of the strength of the shareholder value effect. In particular, there exists a negative relationship between company size and abnormal returns and return on equity and abnormal returns, whereas the newness of the product for the market has a positive influence on abnormal returns.     

The impact of investor sentiment on the German stock market

This paper develops a broad-based sentiment indicator for Germany and investigates whether investor sentiment can explain stock returns on the German stock market. Based on a principal component analysis, we construct a sentiment indicator that condenses information of several well-known sentiment proxies. We show that this indicator explains the return spread between sentiment sensitive stocks and stocks that are not sensitive to sentiment fluctuations. Specifically, stocks that are difficult to arbitrage and hard to value are sensitive to the indicator. However, we do not find much predictive power of sentiment for future stock returns.     

应计质量的风险定价研究——来自中国A股市场的证据

以2002年～2008年575家A股上市公司为样本,分别运用固定效应和时间序列OLS回归方法,从股价(年报后)和股票回报率两个角度考察A股上市公司应计盈余质量是否会影响投资者对股票的定价。通过将每股盈余分离成每股可控盈余、非可控盈余和经营现金流后发现,年报之后的股票价格与可控盈余之间呈高度正相关。研究结果表明,投资者不能有效识别上市公司财务报表的真实性,盈余管理在一定程度上影响了投资者对股票的客观定价。进一步,通过构建盈余质量的替代变量AQfactor,将其纳入CAPM模型和三因子模型中进行资产定价检验。结果显示,AQfactor虽然与股票回报率正相关,但并不具有统计意义上的显著性,即在中国A股市场上,没有证据表明应计盈余质量可以作为一个信息风险定价因子来解释股票回报;在相对较长而稳定的期间里,超常的报告盈余引起的应计盈余波动并不能给投资者带来稳定回报率。     

Does shareholder protection affect the performance of analysts as a gatekeeper?

This paper investigates the effect of shareholder protection on analysts’ performance. The important corporate governance role analysts can play by monitoring management has largely been ignored in the literature. Using a newly constructed index, we are for the first time able to analyse how changes in shareholder protection over time affect analysts’ performance as a gatekeeper. We find that strengthened shareholder protection improves analysts’ performance as a gatekeeper, i.e. analysts’ ability to reduce information asymmetry improves with strengthened shareholder protection. However, we also find a substitution effect: Strengthened shareholder protection makes analysts’ services less valuable to investors, thereby leading to a reduction in the number of analysts following firms.     

The relation between board size and firm performance in firms with a history of poor operating performance

Focusing on a sample of smaller firms with a history of poor operating performance, this paper posits that increases in board size will be associated with better share price performance. Notably, board sizes studied here are, on average, much smaller than those typically studied by prior research. Mostly consistent with predictions, board size is found to be positively correlated with firm value in between-firms tests, and changes in board size are found to be positively associated with annual stock returns. Last, event study results suggest that the market responds favorably to board size increases and unfavorably to large board size decreases. Together, these results identify a setting in which larger board sizes appear to be positively related to shareholder value.     

Distribution system choice in a service industry: An analysis of international insurance firms operating in the United States

Service firms play an increasingly important role in the global economy. However, the internationalization strategies of such firms, and especially their distribution system choices, have been underexplored in the international management literature. One specific service industry that has internationalized rapidly in recent years is the insurance industry. This paper examines the determinants and performance implications of the choice by international insurance firms between two rival distribution systems: direct writing and independent sales agents. Drawing on the transaction cost theory-based literature on resource commitment, control, and risk, we develop hypotheses on the determinants of the choice between these two distribution systems and on the performance implications of this choice for insurance firms. Analyzing a sample of 168 distribution entries into the United States by insurance firms from six foreign countries over the 1992–2000 period, we find that cultural distance has a U-shaped effect on the probability of direct writing, and that an insurer's intangible assets have a positive effect on this probability. We also find that the direct writing system performs better in terms of profitability, but that the independent agency system performs better in terms of market share growth.     

Family Control and Stock Market Reactions to Innovation Announcements

Although family firms are common around the world, studies on family‐controlled business are limited. Prior studies mainly focused on the influences of family ownership on overall firm performance, and the results were mixed. In this study we attempted to explore the impacts of family ownership on innovation by examining the association of family control and stock market reactions to innovation announcements. We found that firms with greater family control experienced significantly more negative stock market reactions to innovation announcements. The results further indicated that divergence of cash flow and voting rights was strongly and negatively correlated with announcement‐period abnormal returns. In addition, the findings suggested a significantly positive moderating effect of institutional ownership. The conclusions were robust under various measures of family control, and remained valid after controlling other influential factors for stock market reactions to innovation announcements.     

F?rdern aktienkursbasierte Vergütungsinstrumente langfristig orientierte Unternehmensentscheidungen? Lehren aus der Kreditkrise

The question whether stock-based management incentives encourage long-term oriented management decisions is the topic of a controversial public debate. Also, the existing academic literature provides no clear picture, mainly due to endogeneity problems. In this paper, we reexamine the issue in the context of the recent credit crises, which allows us to solve the endogeneity problem. In the empirical analysis we find that firms, which have awarded stock-based incentives to their executives prior or during the financial crises, face substantially lower cuts in investment spending. These firms also show higher levels of R&D investments during the financial crises. Overall, our results suggest that stock based long-term incentives promote long-term oriented management decisions.     

Sub-Optimal Acquisition Decisions under a Majority Shareholder System

The high separation of ownership from control achieved through the concurrent use of non-voting shares and stock pyramiding could favor acquisitions made to increase private benefits of the controlling shareholders rather than all shareholders wealth. A standard event study methodology is carried out on three different samples of Italian acquisitions during the 1989–1996 period in order to test this hypothesis. We find evidence that a worse market reaction characterizes acquiring firms with a higher separation of ownership from control, while more value-enhancing transactions are undertaken by those smaller in size and with higher prior-performance. An entrenchment effect seems to determine a significant U-shaped relationship between the market reaction and the ultimate shareholder ownership. When the sample is restricted to acquiring firms with a dual class equity structure we find that non-voting shares report significantly negative excess returns in contrast to significantly higher positive returns for voting shares. Such evidence seems to indicate that the average acquisition has been overpaid, as suggested by the negative market reaction of the non-voting shares, while it was expected to lead to higher private benefits to the majority shareholders, as suggested by the revaluation of the voting shares. Finally, the market reaction to acquisitions made within pyramidal groups seems to indicate that the price is set so as to transfer wealth towards the companies located at the upper levels, where majority shareholders own greater fractions of the companies cash flows.JEL Codes: G34, G14A previous version of this paper was presented at the 1999 EFMA Conference in Paris, 1999 EFA Conference in Helsinki, and 1999 Australasian Banking and Finance Conference in Sydney. We would like to thank for helpful comments and suggestions, in alphabetical order: Lorenzo Caprio, Mara Faccio, Katiuscia Manzoni, Giovanni Siciliano, Sandro Sandri, the two anonymous referees and the editor. We would also like to thank Mara Faccio for providing ownership data. All remaining errors are ours.     

Strategic Decisions of New Technology Adoption under Asymmetric Information: A Game‐Theoretic Model*

In this paper we explore strategic decision making in new technology adoption by using economic analysis. We show how asymmetric information affects firms' decisions to adopt the technology. We do so in a two‐stage game‐theoretic model where the first‐stage investment results in the acquisition of a new technology that, in the second stage, may give the firm a competitive advantage in the product market. We compare two information structures under which two competing firms have asymmetric information about the future performance (i.e., postadoption costs) of the new technology. We find that equilibrium strategies under asymmetric information are quite different from those under symmetric information. Information asymmetry leads to different incentives and strategic behaviors in the technology adoption game. In contrast to conventional wisdom, our model shows that market uncertainty may actually induce firms to act more aggressively under certain conditions. We also show that having better information is not always a good thing. These results illustrate a key departure from established decision theory.     

How Opportunistic Culture Affects Financial Performance in Outsourcing Relationships: A Meta-Analysis

Although a substantial body of research has analyzed the overall impact of outsourcing on firm performance measured in shareholder value, a major portion of the between-study variance remains unexplained. Asset specificity related to the outsourcing category (e.g., a business process versus information technology) alone can explain only some of the observed differences in stock market reactions. By integrating insights from transaction cost economics and outsourcing research, we first explain how expected buyer opportunism negatively affects the overall performance of the outsourcing relationship and ultimately, the buyer's own shareholder value. We further argue that this opportunism can be predicted by national culture. We test this hypothesis by applying meta-analytic techniques to compare 4216 outsourcing announcements of firms from 19 cultural backgrounds. The results reveal that an opportunistic culture, represented by a high level of assertiveness combined with a low level of institutional collectivism, is a highly statistically significant predictor of stock market reactions to outsourcing announcements. When further integrating the outsourcing category, the meta-analytic weighted least squares regression becomes a strong predictor of stock market reactions to an outsourcing announcement.