Megamarketing

Abstract

Recent political, economic, and social changes occurring in Eastern Europe are providing opportunities for Western firms to expand to this region. This study presents evidence on the wealth effects associated with expansion by U.S. firms to Eastern European countries. The results of this study show that differential wealth effects are associated with announcements of different modes of expansion, and with country of expansion. The results suggest that Hungary and Poland are important for expansion to Eastern Europe, and that joint ventures should be the preferred mode of expansion for U.S. firms seeking to expand to Eastern Europe. The results also suggest that investors are able to discern between different levels of country risk.     

Impacts of International Greenfield Investment on Firm Valuation

Our study examines the announcement effects of 343 international greenfield investments by 289 U.S. firms for their impact on shareholder wealth. This paper develops five hypotheses based on the positive‐multinational‐network hypothesis. The evidence indicates that market reactions to announcements by firms entering developing countries are more favorable than those entering developed countries. In addition, the results show that the wealth effect for firms entering a host country for the first time is greater than for those that are already operating within the country. As for the long run, greenfield firms have shown improvement in their operating performance and stock performance. Copyright © 2012 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Repurchases of convertible preferred stock and shareholder wealth

In this paper we provide the first comprehensive examination of the stock price reaction to announcements of convertible preferred stock repurchases over the 1981 to 2005 period. We document a positive and significant average common stock abnormal return of 3.27% around announcements of these repurchases. We test signaling and free cash flow explanations for the observed wealth effects by studying abnormal returns and changes in operating performance around repurchase announcements. We find that abnormal returns are positively related to size of repurchases and managerial ownership. We find no evidence of higher stock price reactions for low-q and high free cash flow firms. In addition, we find significant improvements in accounting profitability subsequent to repurchases, but not for low-q firms. Collectively, our results are most consistent with the signaling hypothesis.     

The Corporate Social Responsibility of Pharmaceutical Product Recalls: An Empirical Examination of U.S. and U.K. Markets

The pressure on companies to practice corporate social responsibility (CSR) has gained momentum in recent times as a means of sustaining competitive advantage in business. The pharmaceutical industry has been acutely affected by this trend. While pharmaceutical product recalls have become rampant and increased dramatically in recent years, no comprehensive study has been conducted to study the effects of announcements of recalls on the shareholder returns of pharmaceutical companies. As product recalls could significantly damage a company’s reputation, profitability and brand integrity, this paper investigates the effect on shareholder wealth and the extent to which the adoption of CSR practices by pharmaceutical companies in the United Kingdom (U.K.) and the United States (U.S.), the two largest markets for pharmaceutical products in the world, affected market reactions surrounding product recall announcements. The analysis of product recall announcements from 1998 to 2004 compiled from The Pharmaceutical Journal and U.S. Food and Drug Administration enforcement reports revealed marked differences in the way market participants in the two countries responded to news of product recalls. U.S. investors penalised firms according to the severity of product defects while U.K. investors were indifferent. While U.K. investors rewarded product recalls by firms which were not usually CSR-active, U.S. investors punished non-CSR active firms that performed recalls. These observations could pose strategic challenges to pharmaceutical firms operating in both countries. Jeremy Cheah is an Assistant Professor of Finance at Nottingham University Business School, Malaysia Campus. His research interests lie in the area of applied corporate finance and investment management. Wen Li Chan was an Advocate and Solicitor in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia before assuming the post of University Teacher in Information Systems and Strategy at Nottingham University Business School, Malaysia Campus. She is currently investigating the roles and implications of information on firm valuation, particularly in the area of corporate cyber-litigation and corporate social responsibility. Corinne Chieng is a Corporate Executive at Star Publications (M) Berhad, Malaysia. She has previously worked as a tax consultant at Arthur Andersen Malaysia. Her research interests include the financial implications of corporate social responsibility on the valuation of firms.     

Entering the last frontier: expansion by US multinationals to Africa

Literature on multinationalism, even that which focuses on economic development and incentives for foreign direct investment (FDI), largely ignores the African continent despite its market of over 700 million inhabitants and its unique challenges for foreign firms. However, the African continent provides an important arena for examining the effects of infrastructure, wealth, and political differentials across countries and the effects of these variables on the expansion decisions of US multinational corporations (MNCs). In this paper we examine the US stock market reaction to announcements of US firms entering African markets through both FDI and Non-FDI modes. Finally, we investigate the accounting performance implications of these expansions. Our results show that, on average, firms experience negative wealth effects when expanding to Africa. Further analysis shows that expansions to South Africa produce losses, while expansion to the rest of Africa produce positive gains. We also show that firms with higher return on equity perform better than firms with lower return on equity when they expand to Africa in countries other than South Africa.     

Market valuation of marketing alliances in East Asia: Korean evidence

This paper investigates firm value created by non-equity marketing alliance announcements of Korean listed firms in terms of stock price reactions to the announcements. We find evidence that on the Korean stock market, the announcements of marketing alliances produce significant positive abnormal returns, which reflect an increase in firm value, around the announcement date. This suggests that firm managers need to seek for various marketing alliances not only for an effective competition in competitive business environments but also for enhancement in shareholder wealth. The increase in firm value has inverse relationship with firm's size and growth opportunity. In particular, marketing alliances with firms based in G7-countries create greater firm value than ones with firms based in the home country. Our study provides investors, firm managers, and academics with valuable implications of an importance of marketing alliances for valuation of firms in other Asian countries as well as in Korea.     

Stock market data and trade policy: dumping and the semiconductor industry

This article uses stock market data to examine the effects of cost-based dumping and the subsequent trade agreements between the United States and Japan on U.S. semiconductor firms. Our empirical results show that the initial indication of dumping by Japanese semiconductor firms had a significant negative impact on stock prices of U.S. firms. On the other hand, the subsequent market-sharing trade agreement, under which Japan agreed to prevent the dumping of Japan-manufactured chips in the United States and the United States agreed to suspend the application of antidumping duties, had a positive impact on the stock prices of U.S. semiconductor firms. Our findings support the neoclassical trade theory that the imposition of import relief leads to a wealth transfer to producers.     

Product Regulation and Stock Prices: The Case of the US Food and Drug Administration

This study focuses on the stock market effects associated with the announcements of product approvals, denials and recalls by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the impact of product approvals on research and development expenditures (R&D) and forecasts of earnings by Value Line. When the FDA announces approvals, the shareholder wealth of affected firms increases significantly. The announcements of denials and recalls by the FDA are associated with stock price declines. The stock price impact of recalls is dependent on whether the firm voluntarily withdraws a product or if the withdrawal is mandated by the FDA. Specifically, voluntary recalls are not associated with a change in stockholder wealth, while FDA mandated recalls are associated with decreases in stock price. In addition, we find that partial product recalls have a smaller impact than total recalls. An examination of the effects on competitors' stock price reveals losses when the FDA announces an approval or a recall, but no imt for a d. An analysis of changes in risk around FDA decisions suggests that, on average, betas do not change around approvals, recalls or denials. In addition, our results suggest that announcement period stock price behavior is unrelated to risk changes except for approvals where returns are positive and significant for firms with either increasing risk or no change in risk. We also find that approvals are associated with increases in R&D and forecasts of earnings for the sample firms, with returns to stockholders upon announcement of the approval being related to the increases in R&D and short-term earnings forecasts.     

Determining the effectiveness of consumer boycotts: A stock price analysis of their impact on corporate targets

This research study employs a time-series methodology in an effort to assess the impact of 21 consumer boycott announcements upon the wealth of stockholders of target firms. A major finding of the study was that consumer boycott announcements were followed by statistically significant decreases in stock prices for the target firms. In addition, the overall market value of the target firms dropped by an average of more than $120 million over the two-month post-announcement period. A series of multiple regression analyses employing dummy variables representing identifiable boycott attributes failed to identify any significant relationships between the level of equity damage inflicted upon the boycott targets and the selected variables. Policy implications of the research findings are drawn for corporate managers as well as boycott leaders.     

Foreign subsidization and excess capacity

The U.S. steel industry has long held that foreign subsidization and excess capacity has led to its long-run demise, yet no one has formally examined this hypothesis. In this paper, we incorporate foreign subsidization considerations into a model based on Staiger and Wolak's (1992) cyclical dumping framework and illustrate testable implications of both cyclical excess capacity and structural excess capacity stemming from foreign subsidization. We then use detailed product- and foreign country-level data on steel exports to the U.S. market to estimate these excess capacity effects. While the full sample results provide evidence of both cyclical and structural excess capacity effects for exports to the U.S. market, these effects are confined to such a narrow range of country–product combinations that it is unlikely that such effects were a significant factor in the fortunes of U.S. steel firms over the past decades.     

The Effect of Timeliness and Credit Ratings on the Information Content of Earnings Announcements

This paper investigates the impact of timeliness and credit ratings on the information content of the earnings announcements of Greek listed firms from 2001 to 2008. Using the classical event study methodology and regression analysis, we find that firms tend to release good news on time and are inclined to delay the release of bad news. We also provide evidence that the level of corporate risk differentiates the information content of earnings according to the credit rating category. Specifically, firms displaying high creditworthiness enjoy positive excess returns on earnings announcement dates. In contrast, firms with low creditworthiness undergo significant share price erosions on earnings announcement days. We also observe a substitution effect between timeliness and credit ratings in relation to the information content of earnings announcements. Specifically, we find that as the credit category of earnings-announcing firms improves, the informational role of timeliness is mitigated.     

The Effects of Search-Related and Purchase-Related Mobile App Additions on Retailers’ Shareholder Wealth: The Roles of Firm Size,Product Category,and Customer Segment

Mobile channel additions have been shown to increase consumer-brand relationships, brand satisfaction towards and overall purchasing from a retailer, but what is less apparent is whether shareholders are fully rewarded for retailers’ mobile channel additions. Results from an event study on 115 announcements relating to mobile app additions of publicly traded U.S. retail firms between 2009 and 2016 indicate that the stock market responds generally positively to mobile app additions, but specifically to the two mobile app addition types. Stock market responses to search-related and purchase-related app additions are moderated by firm size, product category, and target customer age. For announcements of search-related apps, the market responds more positively to product retailers than to service retailers, and to small firms than large ones. For announcements of purchase-related apps, the market responds less positively to firms that target younger customers than firms who do not especially target them.     

Settlement agreement types of federal corporate prosecution in the U.S. and their impact on shareholder wealth

This paper analyzes the shareholder wealth effects of corporate prosecution settlements in the U.S. from 2001 to 2014. We focus on the relative monetary size of the settlement and on deferred prosecution and non-prosecution agreements in contrast to traditional plea agreements. The results show that the settlement of criminal prosecution leads to positive shareholder wealth effects, which may be due to the resolution of any remaining uncertainty with respect to the total settlement amount and lower than expected settlement costs. Stockholders generally view the announcement of plea agreements more positively than the announcement of deferred prosecution and non-prosecution agreements. The likelihood of a certain agreement type is strongly dependent on the crime committed. Moreover, larger firms with better board-related governance structures that have not been criminally prosecuted prior to the settlement are more likely to avoid a criminal conviction.     

U.S. Advertising Agency Productivity

Advertising agency growth through mergers and ac- quisitions became a common strategy in the 1980s, pdculady among the largest finns in the indusby, yet little research has examined ils effects. In this study, U.S. advertising agency size and mergers and acquisitions are related to agency productivity. Size was found to be a clear advantage for advertising agencies, as larger firms were consis- tently more productive in both b i g s and gross income per em- ployee. The postmerger performance of merging and acquiring ad- vertising agencies was worse for most of those firms than their prior Formance when compared to firms of similar size, indicating that tlus strategy for growth tends to be less successful in the short-run.     

Is corporate governance important for regulated firms’ shareholders?: Evidence from Japanese mergers and acquisitions

This paper compares the reaction of bidders’ stock prices to acquisition announcements by regulated non-financial firms, banks, and unregulated companies in Japan. Results suggest that regulated non-financial firms do not experience a significant stock price response at merger and acquisition (M&A) announcements, although banks’ and unregulated firms’ M&A announcements are regarded favorably by the stock market. Furthermore, the effect of stock option usage and strict boards on the stock price response is weak for regulated non-financial bidders. The results provide additional evidence that regulation results in managerial decisions’ having less influence on shareholder wealth and thereby changes the firm's optimal governance structure. In contrast, the results provide no clear evidence that, for bank bidders, there is a significantly stronger or weaker relationship between governance and the stock price response to an M&A announcement than that of unregulated firms or regulated non-financial firms. The result does not support the view that regulatory monitoring weakens the effect of ordinary governance mechanisms.     

The Value of Corporate Philanthropy During Times of Crisis: The Sensegiving Effect of Employee Involvement

Recent research suggests that philanthropy’s value to the firm is largely mediated by contextual factors such as managers’ assumed motives for charity. Our article extends this contingency perspective using a “sensegiving” lens, by which external actors’ interpretations of organizational actions may be influenced by the way in which the organization communicates about those actions. We consider how sensegiving features in philanthropy-related press releases affect whether investors value those donation decisions. For the empirical investigation in this study, we analyze abnormal returns to announcements by U.S. Fortune 500 firms documenting their donations to Hurricane Katrina disaster relief in 2005. We expect that in general, donation decisions would be controversial given the uncertainty surrounding the hurricane’s economic effects at the time. However, we also propose that announcements emphasizing employee involvement in the donation send investors positive signals about the firm’s ability to bounce back from the disaster’s adverse effects. We find empirical support for the proposed hypotheses, and discuss the implications for theory and practice.     

The changing role of U.S.-based MNCs: A financial perspective

An increasing number of US.-based multinational companies have adopted a strategy of “inward-oriented” diversification in the 1980s. This article focuses on the ensuing financial performance of these firms, especially as compared to that of a group of U.S.-based domestic corporations. Specifically, well-known performance and risk measures are applied to a sample of multinational and domestic firms based in the U.S. The data are analyzed over three five-year periods (1979-1983, 1980-1984, and 1981-1985). The overall results, while providing total support for a few of the major issues and lending partial support to the others, seem to indicate that U.S. multinationals may have adopted a successful strategy in response to a changing global economic environment.     

The Launching of Transactional Web Sites: Market Response to Announcements by Incumbent B2C Companies

Stock market responses to announcements of transactional Web site launches by business-to-consumer retail outlets are examined. In general, announcements by retail firms yielded positive average abnormal returns (AAR). More specifically, announcements by catalog firms yielded higher AAR than announcements by physical (brick-and-mortar) retail firms. Announcement of portal tenancy also leads to higher AAR for the subsample of firms making such announcements. Responses to announcements of plans to launch transactional Web sites are also explored. The implications of the results for multiple theoretical perspectives are discussed.     

Macroeconomic announcements,intraday covariance structure and asymmetry in the interest rate futures returns

The effects of scheduled macroeconomic announcements on the real-time intraday return volatilities, covariances, and correlations between the Eurodollar futures and the U.S. Treasury bond futures markets are studied. These announcements are responsible for most of the observed intraday jumps in volatilities, covariances, and correlations. The details of the linkage are intriguing and include announcements timing effect. Further study on intraday asymmetric volatility and correlation-in-volatility indicates that news announcements magnify asymmetric volatility and shed light on why correlations tend to be high when volatilities are high. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 28:815–844, 2008     

Ownership structures of U.S. joint ventures in the 1980S

A firm's choice between sole and joint ventures in a foreign market is subject to various market-specific and firm-specific influences. This study draws upon the transaction cost and bargaining power theoretical frameworks to identify and measure some of these influences. A logistic regression model was employed to examine the relative influences of the main and interaction effects of the independent factors on ownership structures employed for new foreign subsidiaries by U.S. firms in the 1980s.