IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finlet/v30y2019icp130-138.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Share repurchases under uncertainty: U.S. evidence

Author

Listed:
  • Pirgaip, Burak
  • Dinçergök, Burcu

Abstract

We examine the impact of economic policy uncertainty as measured by Baker et al. (2016) on share repurchase activity in the U.S. market. We employ panel analyses with 2258 firms between 1990 and 2017 using a quarterly dataset. Our findings reveal that firm managers tend to make less or no repurchases under high level of uncertainty in the economy.

Suggested Citation

  • Pirgaip, Burak & Dinçergök, Burcu, 2019. "Share repurchases under uncertainty: U.S. evidence," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 130-138.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:30:y:2019:i:c:p:130-138
    DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2019.03.036
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1544612318305142
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.frl.2019.03.036?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gerard Hoberg & Nagpurnanand R. Prabhala, 2009. "Disappearing Dividends, Catering, and Risk," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(1), pages 79-116, January.
    2. Andriosopoulos, Dimitris & Hoque, Hafiz, 2013. "The determinants of share repurchases in Europe," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 65-76.
    3. Najah Attig & Narjess Boubakri & Sadok El Ghoul & Omrane Guedhami, 2016. "The Global Financial Crisis, Family Control, and Dividend Policy," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 45(2), pages 291-313, May.
    4. Lubos Pástor & Pietro Veronesi, 2012. "Uncertainty about Government Policy and Stock Prices," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 67(4), pages 1219-1264, August.
    5. Jagannathan, Murali & Stephens, Clifford P. & Weisbach, Michael S., 2000. "Financial flexibility and the choice between dividends and stock repurchases," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(3), pages 355-384, September.
    6. Robert Krol, 2014. "Economic Policy Uncertainty and Exchange Rate Volatility," International Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(2), pages 241-256, June.
    7. Gustavo Grullon & Roni Michaely, 2002. "Dividends, Share Repurchases, and the Substitution Hypothesis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(4), pages 1649-1684, August.
    8. Pástor, Ľuboš & Veronesi, Pietro, 2013. "Political uncertainty and risk premia," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(3), pages 520-545.
    9. Lee, Bong-Soo & Rui, Oliver Meng, 2007. "Time-Series Behavior of Share Repurchases and Dividends," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 42(1), pages 119-142, March.
    10. Brav, Alon & Graham, John R. & Harvey, Campbell R. & Michaely, Roni, 2005. "Payout policy in the 21st century," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(3), pages 483-527, September.
    11. Andres, Christian & Doumet, Markus & Fernau, Erik & Theissen, Erik, 2015. "The Lintner model revisited: Dividends versus total payouts," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 56-69.
    12. Murali Jagannathan & Clifford Stephens, 2003. "Motives for Multiple Open-Market Repurchase Programs," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 32(2), Summer.
    13. Scott R. Baker & Nicholas Bloom & Steven J. Davis, 2016. "Measuring Economic Policy Uncertainty," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 131(4), pages 1593-1636.
    14. Bonaime, Alice & Gulen, Huseyin & Ion, Mihai, 2018. "Does policy uncertainty affect mergers and acquisitions?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(3), pages 531-558.
    15. Buchanan, Bonnie G. & Cao, Cathy Xuying & Liljeblom, Eva & Weihrich, Susan, 2017. "Uncertainty and firm dividend policy—A natural experiment," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 179-197.
    16. Baker, H. Kent & Powell, Gary E. & Veit, E. Theodore, 2003. "Why companies use open-market repurchases: A managerial perspective," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 483-504.
    17. Brandon Julio & Youngsuk Yook, 2012. "Political Uncertainty and Corporate Investment Cycles," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 67(1), pages 45-84, February.
    18. Bliss, Barbara A. & Cheng, Yingmei & Denis, David J., 2015. "Corporate payout, cash retention, and the supply of credit: Evidence from the 2008–2009 credit crisis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(3), pages 521-540.
    19. repec:bla:obuest:v:61:y:1999:i:0:p:631-52 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Chay, J.B. & Suh, Jungwon, 2009. "Payout policy and cash-flow uncertainty," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(1), pages 88-107, July.
    21. Fernau, Erik & Hirsch, Stefan, 2019. "What drives dividend smoothing? A meta regression analysis of the Lintner model," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 255-273.
    22. Leduc, Sylvain & Liu, Zheng, 2016. "Uncertainty shocks are aggregate demand shocks," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 20-35.
    23. Hanlon, Michelle & Hoopes, Jeffrey L., 2014. "What do firms do when dividend tax rates change? An examination of alternative payout responses," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(1), pages 105-124.
    24. Mensi, Walid & Hammoudeh, Shawkat & Reboredo, Juan Carlos & Nguyen, Duc Khuong, 2014. "Do global factors impact BRICS stock markets? A quantile regression approach," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 1-17.
    25. Gerard Hoberg & Gordon Phillips & Nagpurnanand Prabhala, 2014. "Product Market Threats, Payouts, and Financial Flexibility," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 69(1), pages 293-324, February.
    26. repec:bla:jfinan:v:59:y:2004:i:2:p:651-680 is not listed on IDEAS
    27. Ha, Chang Yong & Im, Hyun Joong & Kang, Ya, 2017. "Sticky dividends: A new explanation," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 69-79.
    28. Hillert, Alexander & Maug, Ernst & Obernberger, Stefan, 2016. "Stock repurchases and liquidity," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(1), pages 186-209.
    29. Brockman, Paul & Howe, John S. & Mortal, Sandra, 2008. "Stock market liquidity and the decision to repurchase," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 14(4), pages 446-459, September.
    30. G. S. Maddala & Shaowen Wu, 1999. "A Comparative Study of Unit Root Tests with Panel Data and a New Simple Test," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 61(S1), pages 631-652, November.
    31. Banerjee, Suman & Humphery-Jenner, Mark & Nanda, Vikram, 2018. "Does CEO bias escalate repurchase activity?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 105-126.
    32. Dittmar, Amy K, 2000. "Why Do Firms Repurchase Stock?," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 73(3), pages 331-355, July.
    33. Chen, Sheng-Syan & Wang, Yanzhi, 2012. "Financial constraints and share repurchases," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(2), pages 311-331.
    34. Haw, In-Mu & Ho, Simon S.M. & Hu, Bingbing & Zhang, Xu, 2011. "The contribution of stock repurchases to the value of the firm and cash holdings around the world," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 152-166, February.
    35. Tao Huang & Fei Wu & Jin Yu & Bohui Zhang, 2015. "Political risk and dividend policy: Evidence from international political crises," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 46(5), pages 574-595, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gyimah, Daniel & Siganos, Antonios & Veld, Chris, 2021. "Effects of financial constraints and product market competition on share repurchases," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    2. Christos Floros & Emilios Galariotis & Konstantinos Gkillas & Efstathios Magerakis & Constantin Zopounidis, 2024. "Time-varying firm cash holding and economic policy uncertainty nexus: a quantile regression approach," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 341(2), pages 859-895, October.
    3. Ghalke, Avinash & Sensarma, Rudra & Chakraborty, Sandip & Kakani, Ram Kumar, 2023. "Stock markets and economic uncertainty: Roles of legislative sessions and coalition strength," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    4. Lee, Chien-Chiang & Park, Bokyung & Wang, Chih-Wei, 2023. "The effect of asymmetric information disappears: Evidence in share repurchases and market efficiency," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    5. Anolick, Nina & Batten, Jonathan A. & Kinateder, Harald & Wagner, Niklas, 2021. "Time for gift giving: Abnormal share repurchase returns and uncertainty," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    6. Burak Pirgaip, 2021. "Pan(dem)ic reactions in Turkish stock market: evidence from share repurchases," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 11(2), pages 381-402, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Adra, Samer & Gao, Yang & Huang, Jin & Yuan, Jiayi, 2023. "Geopolitical risk and corporate payout policy," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    2. Dang, Viet A. & De Cesari, Amedeo & Phan, Hieu V., 2021. "Employment protection and share repurchases: Evidence from wrongful discharge laws," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    3. Paul Tanyi & David B. Smith & Xiaoyan Cheng, 2021. "Does firm payout policy affect shareholders’ dissatisfaction with directors?," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 57(1), pages 279-320, July.
    4. Frank Obenpong Kwabi & Emmanuel Adegbite & Ernest Ezeani & Chizindu Wonu & Henry Mumbi, 2024. "Political uncertainty and stock market liquidity, size, and transaction cost: The role of institutional quality," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(2), pages 2030-2048, April.
    5. Ahmad, Muhammad Farooq & Aziz, Saqib & El-Khatib, Rwan & Kowalewski, Oskar, 2023. "Firm-level political risk and dividend payout," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    6. Dung Viet Tran, 2020. "Economic policy uncertainty and bank dividend policy," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 67(3), pages 339-361, September.
    7. Duong, Huu Nhan & Nguyen, Justin Hung & Nguyen, My & Rhee, S. Ghon, 2020. "Navigating through economic policy uncertainty: The role of corporate cash holdings," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    8. Attig, Najah & El Ghoul, Sadok & Guedhami, Omrane & Zheng, Xiaolan, 2021. "Dividends and economic policy uncertainty: International evidence," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    9. Justin Hung Nguyen & Buhui Qiu, 2022. "The effect of skilled labor intensity on corporate dividend payouts," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(5-6), pages 963-1010, May.
    10. Su, Xuan-Qi & Lin, Yung-Chieh & Chen, Chin-Ming & Lowe, Alpha, 2019. "Are educational managers credible or overconfident? Evidence from share repurchases in Taiwan," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 93-112.
    11. Anolick, Nina & Batten, Jonathan A. & Kinateder, Harald & Wagner, Niklas, 2021. "Time for gift giving: Abnormal share repurchase returns and uncertainty," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    12. Szládek, Dániel, 2024. "Osztalékfizetés helyett részvény-visszavásárlás?. A részvény-visszavásárlások népszerűségének lehetséges okai [Share repurchases instead of dividend payments?. The evolution of payout policies and ," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(2), pages 154-175.
    13. Farooq, Omar & Ahmed, Neveen, 2019. "Dividend policy and political uncertainty: Evidence from the US presidential elections," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 201-209.
    14. Balachandran, Balasingham & Nguyen, Justin Hung, 2018. "Does carbon risk matter in firm dividend policy? Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in an imputation environment," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 249-267.
    15. Lai, Karen M.Y. & Saffar, Walid & Zhu, Xindong (Kevin) & Liu, Yiye, 2020. "Political institutions, stock market liquidity and firm dividend policy: Some international evidence," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(1).
    16. Ravinder Kumar Arora, 2022. "Why Do Indian Companies Repurchase Their Shares?," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 23(1), pages 205-217, February.
    17. Zhe An & Wenlian Gao & Donghui Li & Dezhu Ye, 2022. "Dividend payouts, cash‐flow uncertainty and the role of institutions," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(7-8), pages 1356-1390, July.
    18. Ye, Dezhu & Deng, Jie & Liu, Yi & Szewczyk, Samuel H. & Chen, Xiao, 2019. "Does board gender diversity increase dividend payouts? Analysis of global evidence," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 1-26.
    19. Hayley Baker & Millicent Chang & Choy Yeing (Chloe) Ho, 2021. "Value of dividend signaling in uncertain times," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 21(4), pages 1419-1440, December.
    20. Nyborg, Kjell & Wang, Zexi, 2019. "Corporate cash holdings: Stock liquidity and the repurchase motive," CEPR Discussion Papers 13791, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Share repurchase; Economic policy uncertainty; Payout policy; Panel data analysis;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E44 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy
    • E60 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - General
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G35 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Payout Policy

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:30:y:2019:i:c:p:130-138. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/frl .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.