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Why does shareholder protection matter for abnormal returns after reported insider purchases and sales?

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  • Fidrmuc, Jana P.
  • Korczak, Adriana
  • Korczak, Piotr

Abstract

We use a unique data set of more than 240,000 reported insider transactions across 15 European countries and the USA to analyze the link between country-level shareholder protection and abnormal returns following insider trades. We show that abnormal returns after insider transactions are positively correlated with country-level shareholder protection against expropriation by corporate insiders, which supports the information-content hypothesis. Market reaction to insider purchases increases with shareholder protection because shareholder protection enhances the transparency and trustworthiness of insiders’ actions, and limits possibilities for direct profit diversion, so that more information is eventually reflected in stock prices. For insider sales, shareholder protection decreases their negative information content. We conjecture that this is due to the effect of greater transparency and trustworthiness strengthening the diversification and liquidity reasons for selling in better shareholder protection countries. We find limited support for the rent-extraction hypothesis that conjectures that shareholder protection is associated with insider trading dollar profits.

Suggested Citation

  • Fidrmuc, Jana P. & Korczak, Adriana & Korczak, Piotr, 2013. "Why does shareholder protection matter for abnormal returns after reported insider purchases and sales?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 1915-1935.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbfina:v:37:y:2013:i:6:p:1915-1935
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbankfin.2012.06.019
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    2. Drobetz, Wolfgang & Mussbach, Emil & Westheide, Christian, 2020. "Corporate insider trading and return skewness," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    3. Thomas Bourveau & Renaud Coulomb & Marc Sangnier, 2021. "Political Connections and White-Collar Crime: Evidence from Insider Trading in France," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 19(5), pages 2543-2576.
    4. Allan Hodgson & Michael Seamer & Katherine Uylangco, 2020. "Does stronger corporate governance constrain insider trading? Asymmetric evidence from Australia," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 60(3), pages 2665-2687, September.
    5. Chun-Teck Lye & Tuan-Hock Ng & Kwee-Pheng Lim & Chin-Yee Gan, 2020. "Investor protection and market reaction to unusual market activity replies," International Journal of Emerging Markets, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 16(8), pages 2034-2069, July.
    6. Dennis D. Malliouris & Alphons T. Vermorken & Maximilian A.M. Vermorken, 2022. "Aggregate insider trading and future market returns in the United States, Europe, and Asia," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(1), pages 802-821, January.
    7. Chang, Millicent & Wee, Marvin, 2016. "The effect of voluntary versus mandatory adoption of trading policies on the returns to insider trades," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 76-87.
    8. Caspar Rose & Nicolai Søpstad, 2015. "Reactions to corporate insider’s transactions: Do legal stock market disclosure rules have an impact?," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 40(2), pages 247-272, October.
    9. Jyri Kinnunen & Minna Martikainen, 2017. "Expected Returns and Idiosyncratic Risk: Industry-Level Evidence from Russia," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(11), pages 2528-2544, November.
    10. Luke M. Bennett & Wei Hu, 2023. "Filtration enlargement‐based time series forecast in view of insider trading," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(1), pages 112-140, February.
    11. Gębka, Bartosz & Korczak, Adriana & Korczak, Piotr & Traczykowski, Jędrzej, 2017. "Profitability of insider trading in Europe: A performance evaluation approach," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 66-90.
    12. Chauhan, Yogesh & Kumar, K. Kiran & Chaturvedula, Chakrapani, 2016. "Information asymmetry and the information content of insider trades: Evidence from the Indian stock market," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 65-79.
    13. Shams, Syed M.M. & Duong, Huu Nhan & Singh, Harminder, 2016. "Information content of directors' trading around acquisitions," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 177-193.
    14. Millicent Chang & Xiaolin Qian & Jing Yu & Yvonne See, 2017. "Does director trading change the information environment?," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 42(2), pages 205-229, May.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Shareholder protection; Insider trading; Rent extraction; Information content;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance

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