Investor Reactions,Social Implications and Layoff Announcements in the UK: A Comparison between Periods

This study examined the effect of layoffannouncements on shareholder wealth. Second, itfurther discusses the social implications oflayoffs and the extent to which investorreactions towards layoffs may have changed overtime. Details of layoff announcements for UKlisted companies were gathered for the periods1980 to 1984 and 1990 to 1995 inclusive.Comparative to prior U.S. findings, the resultsshow that UK investors do respond negatively toannouncements categorised as reactive. Twofindings not established by prior researchwere: (1) UK investor reactions appear to bemuch more sensitive to layoffs in the 1990's asopposed to the 1980s, and (2) UK investorsappeared increasingly sensitive toward layoffscompared to their US counterparts.