Dual Domestic Listing, Market Structure and Shareholder Wealth

This paper examines the impact of dual domestic listing of common stocks on shareholder wealth. The sample contains 137 AMEX- and NYSE-listed companies that dually listed their common stocks on the Pacific and Midwest Stock Exchanges between 1984 and 1988. Because the sample stocks do not have unlisted trading privileges, dual listing changes the market structure in which the stocks traded. Changes in market structure may affect stock returns through the liquidity services provided by the competing markets and through the possible nonhomogeneous clientele across markets. Using standard event methodology to examine stock market behavior around dual listing shows that the net effect of dual listing on returns is negative. Such negative returns suggest that corporate managers have reasons for dual domestic listing other than increasing shareholder wealth.