Does an Industry Effect Exist for Initial Public Offerings?

We examine the impact of initial public offerings (IPOs) on rival firms and find that the valuation effects are insignificant. This insignificant reaction can be explained by offsetting information and competitive effects. Significant positive information effects are associated with IPOs in regulated industries and the first IPO in an industry following a period of dormancy. Significant negative competitive effects are associated with larger IPOs in competitive industries, those in relatively risky industries, those in high‐performing industries, and those in the technology sector. IPO firms that use the proceeds for debt repayment appear to represent a more significant competitive threat to rival firms relative to IPO firms that use their proceeds for other purposes.     

Valuation effects of foreign divestitures

This study assesses announcement period valuation effects of foreign divestitures and explains why these valuation effects vary among firms. Significant positive valuation effects are observed. The valuation effects of foreign divestitures are positive and are similar in magnitude to those of a matched control group of domestic divestitures. Results of a cross-sectional analysis suggest that valuation effects are positively related to the relative size of the divested unit. Valuation effects are more favorable when divestitures are for strategic reorganization purposes and/or to raise cash, and valuation effects are more favorable for foreign divestitures in industrialized host countries. Several important managerial implications emerge from the results of this study. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Note on Perceptions of Finance Journal Quality

Finance journal quality is a critical issue for faculty annual elevations, for the tenure and promotion process, and for the administration of faculty workload plans. Unlike other studies that use objective measures (such as citation frequencies) to rate journals, this study focuses on the opinions of chairpersons about the relative quality of 55 finance, insurance, and real estate journals. A sample of 218 finance department chairpersons at AACSB accredited business schools were surveyed, and 125 responses were received (57.34% response rate). Besides overall aggregate scores, responses are segregated and tested for differences across several dimensions. The results offer interesting and current insight on general perceptions of journal quality.     

Explaining variation in risk across insurance companies

The purpose of this study is to determine what firm-specific factors affect the risk of insurance companies. Traditional methods used to identify potential failures have been severely criticized. Thus, alternative approaches to risk assessment should be of interest to investors and managers of these companies. Models for measuring the impact of factors on risk are developed and empirically tested. The models employed explain a high proportion of variation in risk levels across companies. The sensitivity of insurance company risk to financial characteristics vary with the variable used as a proxy for risk and the type of insurance company assessed. Given the strong relationships between firm-specific characteristics and company risk, it appears that the risk of insurance companies can be effectively controlled with proper management.