Arpita Agnihotri

Corporate Name Change and the Market Valuation of Firms: Evidence from an Emerging Market

Abstract Investors’ responses to a firm’s name change and the determinants of their response are scantly explored areas in the field of behavioral finance. Based on a sample of 415 Indian firms from 2005 to 2014, this study suggests that investors respond positively to the announcement of firm name changes. Furthermore, the study indicates that when firms do not indicate geographical specificity in the name and have a specific rather than generic name, then the firm will experience greater abnormal returns. Also, when firm names are fluent and are associated with the owner’s family name, again, abnormal returns generated are positive. Nevertheless, as a firm ages and investors gain more information about it, then abnormal returns due to name change decrease.

Whistleblowing policy disclosure: evidence from an Indian emerging market

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate factors which drive firms to disclose whistleblowing policies in one of the emerging markets, i.e. India. Design/methodology/approach – A sample of 200 Bombay Stock Exchange-listed Indian firms is analyzed using Tobit regression. Findings – Promoter shareholding, proportion of independent directors and specific positions like chief ethical officer influence disclosure of whistleblowing policies. Originality/value – This paper presents the first empirical study where principal-principal conflict theory is extended to explain drivers of whistleblowing policy disclosure and, hence, brings new insights to the literature on whistleblowing policy disclosure.

The Market Value of Celebrity Endorsement: Evidence From India Reveals Factors That Can Influence Stock-Market Returns

ABSTRACT Studies in Western countries about stock-market response to celebrity endorsement news have produced mixed results. The current study, in comparison, examined stock-market response from an emerging market—India. The authors investigated determinants of positive abnormal stock-market returns, analyzing 149 endorsement news events from 2003 to 2014. The results indicate that, in India, variables such as endorsement announcement specificity, the reputation of the endorsing celebrity, and whether the endorsing company is of Indian origin can generate positive abnormal returns.

Communicating CSR practices – Role of internationalization of emerging market firms

Abstract Emerging markets suffer from institutional voids, and in such resource deficient economies, corporate social responsibility is given scant attention. However, when firms from emerging markets globalize, international stakeholders become suspicious about firms’ products, services, and business practices. Grounded in the liability of emergingness and legitimacy theory and using a sample of 134 manufacturing firms from one emerging market, India, this study explores how firms’ international diversification intent and market-seeking motives influence emerging markets’ firms communication of socially responsible activities as an attempt to eliminate illegitimacy. Furthermore, the study reveals that business group affiliation enhances the influence of internationalization on firms’ communication of socially responsible activities.