Sheng-Syan Chen

Corporate Ownership Structure and the Informativeness of Earnings

This study extends prior studies by examining how managerial ownership and external unrelated blockholdings affect the informativeness of earnings. The results are in contrast to prior studies. A non-linear relation exists between managerial ownership and earnings informativeness. Earnings informativeness increases with managerial ownership at low levels but not at higher levels of managerial ownership where the entrenchment effect sets in. Consistent with the role of large shareholder monitoring, the evidence shows a strong positive relationship between external unrelated blockholdings and earnings informativeness. These results are supported when income-increasing and absolute discretionary accruals are used to measure the extent of earnings management Copyright Blackwell Publishers Ltd 2002.

Futures Hedge Ratios: A Review

Abstract This paper presents a review of different theoretical approaches to the optimal futures hedge ratios. These approaches are based on minimum variance, mean-variance, expected utility, mean extended-Gini coefficient, as well as semivariance. Various ways of estimating these hedge ratios are also discussed, ranging from simple ordinary least squares to complicated heteroscedastic cointegration methods. Under martingale and joint-normality conditions, different hedge ratios are the same as the minimum variance hedge ratio. Otherwise, the optimal hedge ratios based on the different approaches are different and there is no single optimal hedge ratio that is distinctly superior to the remaining ones.

Corporate diversification, ownership structure, and firm value: The Singapore evidence

Abstract We provide international evidence on the level and value of corporate diversification using a sample of 145 Singapore firms. We find that the level of diversification is positively related to firm size and negatively related to the equity ownership of outside blockholders. However, we find no evidence that insider ownership has a significant impact on the level of diversification. We find significant value loss from diversification only for those firms with low managerial ownership, suggesting that value-reducing diversification stems from agency problems. Outside block ownership does not have a significant impact on the value of diversification. Thus, while outside blockholders may act as a deterrent on the level of diversification, there is no evidence that they can effectively reduce the agency problems for those firms with low managerial ownership.

How Does Strategic Competition Affect Firm Values? A Study of New Product Announcements

We examine the role of strategic interaction in explaining the valuation effect of new product announcements and employ Sundaram, John, and Johns (1996) competitive strategy measure to operationalize the nature of a firms competitive interaction. Using a sample of new product introductions between 1991 and 1995, we find that the market values introductions announced by firms in strategic substitutes competition more favorably than those announced by firms in strategic complements competition. These results hold after we control for other variables that could explain the announcement effect. We also find that industry rivals of those announcing firms that compete in strategic substitutes and experience a positive announcement effect generally suffer a small, but significant wealth loss. The evidence supports the notion that the nature of competitive interaction in an industry is important in assessing the effect of corporate product strategies on shareholder value.

Investment opportunities, free cash flow and market reaction to international joint ventures

Abstract This paper examines the role of investment opportunities and free cash flow in explaining the source of the wealth effect of international joint ventures. We document that firms with promising investment opportunities have significantly positive response to announcements of international joint venture investments, whereas firms with poor investment opportunities have unfavorable response to such announcements. In contrast, we find that free cash flow does not explain the cross-sectional differences in abnormal returns associated with the announcements of international joint ventures. Thus, our results show support for the investment opportunities hypothesis but no support for the free cash flow hypothesis. These findings hold even after controlling for other potential explanatory variables.

Wealth Effects of Private Equity Placements: Evidence from Singapore

We examine institutional characteristics and the wealth effects of private equity placements in Singapore. Our findings show that private placements in Singapore generally result in a negative wealth effect and a reduction in ownership concentration. We find that at high levels of ownership concentration, the relation between abnormal returns and changes in ownership concentration is significantly negative. We also show that the market reacts less favorably to placements in which management ownership falls below 50%, but more favorably to issues to single investors. We do not find evidence suggesting that our results are due to an information effect.

Further Evidence on the Determinants of Secured versus Unsecured Loans

Using a unique data set collected from financial statements of all Singapore listed firms from 1983 to 1991, we provide international evidence on the determinants of the amount of secured loans as a fraction of total secured and unsecured loans. This data set comprises a much wider range of firms than most previous studies. We show that consistent with the agency-cost hypothesis, firms with more growth opportunities use more secured loans. This is in contrast to the opposite result reported in Barclay and Smith (1995b) who measure secured debt as a fraction of total long-term fixed claims. We also find strong support for the hypothesis that smaller firms use more secured loans. In contrast, Leeth and Scott (1989), using survey data on small firms, find an insignificant firm size effect. Finally, we show that the use of secured loans is positively related to asset riskiness and loan size, and is negatively related to asset specificity. Firm quality has no explanatory power. Copyright Blackwell Publishers Ltd 1998.

The Determinants of Debt Maturity: The Case of Bank Financing in Singapore

This study presents important international evidence by examining the determinants of debt maturity of listed firms in Singapore, a major financial center in Asia. We focus on bank debt because it is the principal source of financing for most Singapore firms. We find that consistent with the contracting-cost hypothesis, firms with greater growth opportunities rely more heavily on short-term bank debt whereas larger firms are more likely to use long-term bank debt. In contrast, we find no strong support for either the tax or signaling hypotheses.

Information Uncertainty, Earnings Management, and Long-run Stock Performance Following Initial Public Offerings

We examine how information uncertainty surrounding IPO (initial public offering) firms influences earnings management and long-run stock performance. For low-information-uncertainty issuers, at-issue earnings’ management is positively related to subsequent unmanaged earnings and has no relationship to market reaction to earnings announcement and long-run stock performance following the offering. For high-information-uncertainty issuers, however, at-issue earnings’ management is unrelated to subsequent unmanaged earnings and negatively related to market reaction to earnings announcement and long-run stock performance following the offer. The evidence suggests that, on average, managers in low-information-uncertainty firms tend to engage in earnings’ management for informative purposes, while managers in high-information-uncertainty firms engage in earnings’ management for opportunistic purposes.

Investment Opportunities, Free Cash Flow and Stock Valuation Effects of Corporate Investments: The Case of Taiwanese Investments in China

This paper examines the importance of investment opportunities and free cash flow in assessing the stock market reaction to announcements of cross-border investments in China by Taiwanese firms. Our results support the investment opportunities hypothesis that Taiwanese firms with favorable investment opportunities have significantly positive response to the announcements of their investments in China whereas firms with poor investment opportunities have negative response to such announcements. In contrast, we find no support for the free cash flow hypothesis. Our findings add to the understanding of the determinants of the wealth effect of cross-border investment decisions in the Asia-Pacific region.