Minority Shareholder Protection, Underpricing and the Stock Market Outcomes

  • Wenming XU Law School, University of Bologna

Abstract

This paper presents a model that a firm issues external equity, in the presence of costs of underpricing ‘asset in place’, and conducts comparative statics analysis of its decision to issue external equity at different levels of minority shareholder protection. In the model, minority shareholder protection influences the stock market outcomes through two channels: The cost of external finance and controller’s private benefits. As a result, its effects on different stock market outcomes are heterogeneous. Using a newly assembled panel data with shareholder protection index in 25 countries for 11 years, the empirical part applies system GMM estimator to a dynamic specification and confirms such divergent effects. The minority shareholder protection is negatively correlated with the number of listed firms, but is positively correlated with the stock market capitalization.

References

[1] Anabtawi, I. 2005. Some Skepticism about Increasing Shareholder Power. UCLA Law Review 53(3): 561-600.
[2] Allen, F., and Faulhaber, G.R. 1989. Signalling by Underpricing in the IPO Market. Journal of Financial Economics 23(2): 303-323. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0304-405X(89)90060-3
[3] Arellano, M. and Bond, S 1991. Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations. Review of Economic Studies 58(2): 277-297. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2297968
[4] Armour, J. et al. 2009. Shareholder Protection and Stock Market Development: An Empirical Test of the Legal Origins Hypothesis. Journal of Empirical Legal Studies 6(2): 343-380.
[5] Bazzi, S. and Clemens, M.A., 2009. Blunt Instruments: On Establishing the Causes of Economic Growth. Center for Global Development Working Paper No. 171, available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1408286 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1408286.
[6] Bebchuk, L.A. 2002. Asymmetric Information and the Choice of Corporate Governance Arrangements. Harvard Law and Economics Discussion Paper No. 398, available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=327842 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.327842.
[7] Becker, G.S. 1968. Crime and Punishment: An Economic Approach. Journal of Political Economy 76(2): 169 – 217.
[8] Belloc, F. 2013. Law, Finance and Innovation: The Dark Side of Shareholder Protection. Cambridge Journal of Economics 37(4): 863-888. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cje/bes068.
[9] Bharath, S.T., Pasquariello, P., and Wu, G. 2009. Does Asymmetric Information Drive Capital Structure Decisions?. Review of Financial Studies 22(8): 3211 – 3243.
[10] Bhattacharya, U. and Daouk, H., 2002. The World Price of Insider Trading. The Journal of Finance 57(1): 75-108. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1540-6261.00416.
[11] Blair, M.M., and Stout, L.A. 1999. A Team Production Theory of Corporate Law. Virginia Law Review 85(2): 247-328. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1073662.
[12] Blundell, R., and Bond, S. 1998. Initial Conditions and Moment Restrictions in Dynamic Panel Data Models. Journal of Econometrics 87(1): 115-143. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0304-4076(98)00009-8.
[13] Boulton, T.J., Smart, S.B., and Zutter, C.J. 2010. IPO Underpricing and International Corporate Governance. Journal of International Business Studies 41(2): 206 – 222.
[14] Brau, J.C., and Fawcett, S.E., 2006. Initial Public Offerings: An Analysis of Theory and Practice. The Journal of Finance 61(1): 399 – 436.
[15] Brennan, M.J., and Franks, J. 1997. Underpricing, Ownership and Control in Initial Public Offerings of Equity Securities in the UK. Journal of Financial Economics 45(3): 391-413. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0304-405X(97)00022-6.
[16] Cheffins, B.R. 2001. Does Law Matter? The Separation of Ownership and Control in the United Kingdom. The Journal of Legal Studies 30 (2): 459-484. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/322052.
[17] Cumming, D., Johan, S., and Li, D. 2011. Exchange Trading Rules and Stock Market Liquidity. Journal of Financial Economics 99(3): 651 – 671. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2010.10.001.
[18] Djankov, S., La Porta, R., Lopez-de-Silanes, F., and Shleifer, A. 2008. The Law and Economics of Self-dealing. Journal of Financial Economics 88(3): 430 – 465. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2007.02.007.
[19] Durnev, A., and Kim, E.H. 2005. To Steal or not to Steal: Firm Attributes, Legal Environment, and Valuation. The Journal of Finance 60(3): 1461–1493. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6261.2005.00767.x.
[20] Engel, E., Hayes, R.M., and Wang, X. 2007. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act and Firms’ Going-private Decisions. Journal of Accounting and Economics 44(1-2): 116 – 145.
[21] Foley, C.F., and Greenwood, R. 2010. The Evolution of Corporate Ownership after IPO: The Impact of Investor Protection. Review of Financial Studies 23(3): 1231-1260. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/rfs/hhp069.
[22] Franks, J., Mayer, C., and Rossi, S. 2009. Ownership: Evolution and Regulation. Review of Financial Studies 22(10): 4009-4056. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/rfs/hhn108.
[23] Haselmann, R., Pistor, K., and Vig, V. 2010. How Law Affects Lending. Review of Financial Studies 23(2): 549-580. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/rfs/hhp073.
[24] Hsiao, C. 2003. Analysis of Panel Data. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
[25] Ibbotson, R.G. 1975. Price Performance of Common Stock New Issues. Journal of Financial Economics 2(3): 235 – 272.
[26] Im, K.S., Pesaran, M.H., and Shin, Y. 2003. Testing for Unit Roots in Heterogeneous Panels. Journal of Econometrics 115(1): 53-74. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0304-4076(03)00092-7.
[27] Jenkinson, T. and Ljungqvist, A. 2001. Going Public: The Theory and Evidence on How Companies Raise Equity Finance. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.
[28] Jensen, M.C. and Meckling, W.H. 1976. Theory of the Firm: Managerial Behavior, Agency Costs and Ownership Structure. Journal of Financial Economics 3(4): 305–360. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0304-405X(76)90026-X.
[29] Klapper, L.F. and Love, I. 2004. Corporate Governance, Investor Protection, and Performance in Emerging Markets. Journal of Corporate Finance 10(5): 703-728. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0929-1199(03)00046-4.
[30] La Porta, R., Lopez-de-Silanes, F., and Shleifer, A. 2008. The Economic Consequences of Legal Origins. Journal of Economic Literature 46(2): 285-332. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/27646991.
[31] La Porta, R., Lopez-de-Silanes, F., Shleifer, A., and Vishny, R.W. 1997. Legal Determinants of External Finance. Journal of Finance 52(3): 1131-1150. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6261.1997.tb02727.x.
[32] La Porta, R., Lopez-de-Silanes, F., Shleifer, A., and Vishny, R.W., 1998. Law and Finance. Journal of Political Economy 106(6): 1113 – 1155.
[33] La Porta, R., Lopez-de-Silanes, F., Shleifer, A., and Vishny, R.W., 2002. Investor Protection and Corporate Valuation. The Journal of Finance 57(3): 1147 – 1170.
[34] Lele, P. and Siems M., 2007. Shareholder Protection: A Leximetric Approach. Journal of Corporate Law Studies 7(1): 17 – 50.
[35] Linciano, N. 2003. The Effectiveness of Insider Trading Regulation in Italy. Evidence from Stock-price Run-ups around Announcements of Corporate Control Transactions. European Journal of Law and Economics 16(2): 199 – 218. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1024168309586.
[36] Lombardo, D., and Pagano, M. 1999. Law and Equity Markets: A Simple Model. Stanford Law and Economics Olin Working Paper No. 194; and University of Salerno Working Paper No. 25, available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=209312 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.209312.
[37] McLean, R.D., Zhang, T., and Zhao, M. 2012. Why does the Law Matter? Investor Protection and its Effects on Investment, Finance, and Growth. The Journal of Finance 67(1): 313 – 50. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6261.2011.01713.x.
[38] Myers, S.C. and Majluf, N.S., 1984. Corporate Financing and Investment Decisions When Firms Have Information that Investors do not Have. Journal of Financial Economics 13(2): 187-221. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0304-405X(84)90023-0.
[39] Pagano, M. and Volpin, P.F. 2006. Shareholder Protection, Stock Market Development, and Politics. Journal of the European Economic Association 4(2-3): 315 – 341.
[40] Rajan, R.G. and Zingales, L. 2003. The Great Reversals: The Politics of Financial Development in the Twentieth Century. Journal of Financial Economics 69(1): 5-50. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0304-405X(03)00125-9.
[41] Rock, K. 1986. Why New Issues are Underpriced. Journal of Financial Economics 15(1-2): 187 – 212. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0304-405X(86)90054-1.
[42] Roodman, D. 2009. How to do xtabond2: An Introduction to Difference and System GMM in Stata. The Stata Journal 9(1): 86 – 136.
[43] Shleifer, A., and Wolfenzon, D. 2002. Investor Protection and Equity Markets. Journal of Financial Economics 66(1): 3-27. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0304-405X(02)00149-6.
[44] Spamann, H. 2010. The ‘Antidirector Rights Index’ Revisited. Review of Financial Studies 23(2): 467-486. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/rfs/hhp067.
[45] Welch, I. 1989. Seasoned Offerings, Imitation Costs, and the Underpricing of Initial Public Offerings. The Journal of Finance 44(2): 421-449. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6261.1989.tb05064.x.
[46] Windmeijer, F., 2005. A Finite Sample Correction for the Variance of Linear Efficient Two-step GMM Estimators. Journal of Econometrics 126(1): 25-51.
[47] World Bank, 2012. World Development Indicators. Washington, DC, World Bank.
[48] Xu, G., 2011. The Role of Law in Economic Growth: A Literature Review. Journal of Economic Surveys 25(5): 833-871. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6419.2011.00691.x.
Published
2016-11-24
How to Cite
XU, Wenming. Minority Shareholder Protection, Underpricing and the Stock Market Outcomes. Journal of Advanced Research in Law and Economics, [S.l.], v. 4, n. 2, p. 158-170, nov. 2016. ISSN 2068-696X. Available at: <https://journals.aserspublishing.eu/jarle/article/view/476>. Date accessed: 03 may 2024.
Section
Journal of Advanced Research in Law and Economics

Keywords

minority shareholder protection, underpricing, equity finance, dynamic panel analysis