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Political rights and equity pricing

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  • Boubakri, Narjess
  • El Ghoul, Sadok
  • Saffar, Walid

Abstract

We examine the influence of political rights on the implied cost of equity capital using a sample of firms from 44 countries. We find that firms' equity financing costs are lower when political rights are stronger. We further find that political institutions' direct impact on the cost of equity capital is incremental to that of legal institutions. Economically, our results imply that a one standard deviation increase in political rights is associated with a 38 basis point decrease in corporate cost of equity capital. In additional analyses, we find that the effect of political rights on equity pricing is more pronounced in countries with weak legal institutions.

Suggested Citation

  • Boubakri, Narjess & El Ghoul, Sadok & Saffar, Walid, 2014. "Political rights and equity pricing," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 326-344.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:corfin:v:27:y:2014:i:c:p:326-344
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2014.05.009
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Political rights; Legal institutions; Cost of equity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G18 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State

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