Corporate entrepreneurship and governance: Mergers and acquisitions in Europe

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are a form of corporate entrepreneurship involving strategic decisions that require discussion and approval by the board of directors of the acquiring firm. We focus on board attributes to analyze the entrepreneurial function of the board of directors and its involvement in corporate entrepreneurship. Building on different theories (agency theory, resource dependence theory, stewardship theory, and stakeholder theory), we examine whether board composition affects the number of acquisitions, the risk involved in bids, and the creation of value for the acquirer's shareholders. For a sample of European firms over the period 2002 to 2020, we find that board size and the percentage of external directors are related to the number of acquisitions. However, neither the percentage of women on the board nor CEO duality affects the number of acquisitions by a given firm. We also show that more risky acquisitions are associated with larger firms with a lower proportion of women directors, whereas less risky transactions are related to smaller firms where the CEO is also the chair of the board. Finally, our results indicate that firm acquisitions create value for the acquiring firm and that the market reaction is positively related to board size and CEO duality

Corporate board and default risk of financial firms

This paper analyses the impact of corporate board structure on default risk of European banking firms. We focus on four core aspects of boards that have been addressed in Directive 2013/36/EU to strengthen the corporate governance of banks: the size of boards, their independence, the participation of female directors and CEO duality. We employ panel data analysis to study the 109 European listed banks between 2002 and 2019. Default risk is estimated by Merton's (1974) distance to default. We take into account the presence of unobservable heterogeneity, simultaneity and dynamic endogeneity and estimate the model using the dynamic difference and dynamic system GMM methodologies. The results show that the size of the board influences banks' default risk. Furthermore, bank size, firm profitability and GDP also exert a considerable influence

The informational role of thin options markets: Empirical evidence from the Spanish case

This study investigates the informational role of thin options markets, specifically the Spanish options market. Firstly, we examine the effect of options markets by analysing stock market reaction to earnings news, conditional on the availability of options markets. Secondly, we examine options trading activity before the release of earnings news (including the announcement period). The results show that the impact on prices before the earnings release is significantly bigger when options trading is available. Moreover, the dissemination of earnings news is associated with significant unusual activity in the options market due to informed trading, especially when the earnings surprise is highly good

The decision to acquire listed vs. unlisted firms: determinants and value effects in the spanish stock market

We examine the determinants of the decision to acquire a listed vs. an unlisted firm and extend the previous evidence of value creation after controlling for endogeneity due to self-selection bias. We also control for market valuation conditions, finding that results are conditional to them. On the one hand, our results show that investors see unlisted firm acquisitions as a value creation transaction in a bull market period, whereas we find value destruction in the acquisition of listed firms. During the bear market period we do not find value creation in any case. On the other hand, our results suggest that managerial opportunism is a determinant in the acquisition of listed firms, either in bull or bear market periods. However, under information asymmetry, acquirers change their preferences depending on the market conditions..Economí

Self-selection Bias and the Listing Status of Target Firms: Value Effects in the Spanish Market

As corporate announcement decisions are non–random events, standard OLS estimations must be corrected for the self–selection bias. In the M&A field several studies suggest that previous evidence on univariate analysis of abnormal returns is not fully reliable. We examine whether using the standard Heckman two–step estimation procedure to correct for endogeneity significantly changes the previous evidence with respect to the decision to acquire a listed versus an unlisted firm. Our results show that this correction does not change the conclusions drawn from unconditional abnormal returns. Therefore, we emphasize that the existence of self–selection bias should not mean a general invalidation of the previous evidence.Economí

The informational role of thin options markets: Empirical evidence from the Spanish case

This study investigates the informational role of thin options markets, specifically the Spanish options market. Firstly, we examine the effect of options markets by analysing stock market reaction to earnings news, conditional on the availability of options markets. Secondly, we examine options trading activity before the release of earnings news (including the announcement period). The results show that the impact onprices before the earnings release is significantly bigger when options trading is available. Moreover, the dissemination of earnings news is associated with significant unusual activity in the options market due to informed trading, especially when the earnings surprise is highly good.El trabajo analiza el papel informativo de los mercados de opciones para el caso de escasa negociación, centrándose en el mercado español. Estudiamos el efecto de la llegada de nueva información relevante, como es el anuncio de beneficios, en el mercado de contado bajo la presencia de opciones sobre dichas acciones. Además, examinamos la actividad negociadora en el mercado de opciones ante dicho suceso. Los resultados muestran que el impacto de la información es superior cuando existen opciones cotizadas sobre dichas acciones. Adicionalmente, se observa una actividad negociadora anormal en el mercado de opciones debido a la negociación informada, principalmente cuando la noticia es muy buena

El efecto del anuncio de beneficios cuando cotizan opciones: un estudio conjunto del mercado de contado y el mercado de opciones

This study investigates the informational role of option trading in price discovery process around the dissemination of earnings news. The effect of options markets are examined first by analysing stock market reaction to earnings news conditional on the availability of option markets. Study methodology has been used and distribution functions compared. Option trading activity around the release of earnings news was then examined. Results show that, when option trading is available the option market enhances the price efficiency of equity markets. Moreover, the dissemination of earnings news is associated with a significant unusual activity in market option. The results support the improvement of the efficiency of equity markets after options listing, and that informed agents trade in options markets in order to take advantage of relevant company information.El objetivo del trabajo es comprobar, para los mercados de valores españoles, si el comportamiento de los precios incorporando la información revelada por el anuncio de beneficios trimestrales, es más eficiente en aquellas empresas en las cuales se negocian opciones sobre sus acciones. Utilizando la tradicional metodología del suceso y la comparación de funciones de distribución, obtenemos que para las empresas con opciones, la información se incorpora antes. Además, verificamos que hay un comportamiento anormal en el mercado de opciones que viene explicado por la información que contiene el beneficio. Los resultados obtenidos soportan la mejora de la eficiencia del mercado de contado a partir de la introducción del mercado de opciones y que los agentes informados utilizan este mercado con la finalidad de obtener beneficios a partir de información relevante para el valor de mercado de la empresa