George P. Nishiotis

Disclosure and the Cost of Capital: Evidence from the Market's Reaction to Firm Voluntary Adoption of IAS

Using a unique international setting where the effects of disclosure on firm value can be measured in a constant regulatory environment and in isolation of other confounding factors, this paper shows that firms can increase their value through their choice of accounting standards. Specifically, we document strong positive abnormal returns at the announcement of voluntary adoption of International Accounting Standards (IAS / IFRS) by a sample of international firms and an economically significant reduction in long-run returns, consistent with a reduction in the cost of capital. Consistent with these results we also document evidence of an upgrade in analyst recommendations after the IAS / IFRS adoption announcement and a reduction in the implied cost of capital. Finally, we find strong evidence that the documented abnormal returns are consistent with signaling and bonding benefits stemming from the reduction in asymmetric information. Our results highlight the importance of increased disclosure on minority shareholder protection and on corporate governance in general. Copyright (c) 2009 The Authors Journal compilation (c) 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

A Breakdown of the Valuation Effects of International Cross-Listing

It is well known that cross-listing domestic stocks in foreign exchanges has significant valuation effects on the listed companys shares. Using a sample of firms with dual shares, we explore the differential effects of cross-listing on prices and we are able to separate the different sources of the benefits of cross-listing. Our results show that even though the market segmentation and bonding effects are both statistically significant, the economic significance of segmentation is more than double that of bonding. Furthermore, we document an economically and statistically significant increasse in the liquidity of both share classes after the listing. Overall, our results explain why less and less firms are willing to list in the U.S.: Sarbanes Oxley has increased the cost of adopting better governance while its benefits are not substantial; and market segmentation has decreased significantly in the last years.