Foreign and Domestic Divestments: Evidence on Valuation Effects of Plant Closings

This study examines the valuation consequences of domestic and foreign divestments by comparing the stock price reaction to announcements of domestic plant closings and foreign plant closings. A domestic plant closing could indicate firm-wide problems and impending firm deterioration. A foreign plant may serve to exploit arbitrage opportunities specific to that plant location. Closing a foreign plant need not signify firm-wide problems. Our comparison of stated reasons for closings supports these propositions. Therefore, foreign plant closing announcements should produce a smaller stock price decline that domestic plant closing announcements. Empirical results indicate a significant negative stock price reaction for domestic plant closings and an insignificant negative stock price reaction for foreign plant closings. Differences in stock price reaction remain after controlling for firm-specific factors.© 1992 JIBS. Journal of International Business Studies (1992) 23, 203–223

New Evidence On The Effectiveness Of The Insider Trading Sanctions Act Of 1984

This study examines the effectiveness of the Insider Trading Sanctions Act (ITSA) of 1984 by employing a new approach. This approach examines the effect of ITSA in changing insider trading behavior around seasoned equity offering (SEO) announcements. Results of this study provide strong evidence of deferred net selling by insiders until after the SEO announcement date. Deferred net selling is evident for both the pre-ITSA and post-ITSA periods. We find limited evidence showing that the deferred net selling is significantly increased after passage of ITSA. Any effect of ITSA predominantly affects broad trading, rather than concentrated trading