IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jpolmo/v43y2021i3p601-621.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The impact of financial sanctions: The case of Iran

Author

Listed:
  • Ghasseminejad, Saeed
  • Jahan-Parvar, Mohammad R.

Abstract

This study provides a detailed analysis of the impact of financial sanctions on publicly traded companies. We consider the effect of imposing and lifting sanctions on the target country’s traded equities and examine the differences in the reaction of politically connected firms and those without such connections. The paper focuses on Iran due to (1) its sizable financial markets, (2) imposition of sanctions of varying severity and duration on private and state-owned companies, (3) the significant presence of politically connected firms in the stock market, and (4) the unique event of the 2015 nuclear deal, resulting in fairly rapid lifting of a sizable portion of imposed sanctions. We find that sanctions affect politically connected firms more than ordinary firms, have lasting negative effects on profitability ratios, and that politically connected firms stock prices bounce back more slowly after removal of sanctions. Firms targeted by financial sanctions decrease their leverage and increase their cash holding to manage their perceived increase in risk profile.

Suggested Citation

  • Ghasseminejad, Saeed & Jahan-Parvar, Mohammad R., 2021. "The impact of financial sanctions: The case of Iran," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 601-621.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jpolmo:v:43:y:2021:i:3:p:601-621
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jpolmod.2021.03.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0161893821000120
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jpolmod.2021.03.001?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. Bradley, Michael & Jarrell, Gregg A & Kim, E Han, 1984. "On the Existence of an Optimal Capital Structure: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 39(3), pages 857-878, July.
    2. Patell, Jm, 1976. "Corporate Forecasts Of Earnings Per Share And Stock-Price Behavior - Empirical Tests," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(2), pages 246-276.
    3. Caruso Raul, 2003. "The Impact of International Economic Sanctions on Trade: An Empirical Analysis," Peace Economics, Peace Science, and Public Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 9(2), pages 1-36, April.
    4. Leland, Hayne E, 1994. "Corporate Debt Value, Bond Covenants, and Optimal Capital Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 49(4), pages 1213-1252, September.
    5. Boehmer, Ekkehart & Masumeci, Jim & Poulsen, Annette B., 1991. "Event-study methodology under conditions of event-induced variance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 253-272, December.
    6. Simon J. Evenett, 2002. "The Impact of Economic Sanctions on South African Exports," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 49(5), pages 557-573, November.
    7. repec:zbw:bofitp:2019_024 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Acemoglu, Daron & Johnson, Simon & Kermani, Amir & Kwak, James & Mitton, Todd, 2016. "The value of connections in turbulent times: Evidence from the United States," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(2), pages 368-391.
    9. Ahn, Daniel P. & Ludema, Rodney D., 2020. "The sword and the shield: The economics of targeted sanctions," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    10. repec:wsr:wpaper:y:2015:i:138 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Corrado, Charles J. & Zivney, Terry L., 1992. "The Specification and Power of the Sign Test in Event Study Hypothesis Tests Using Daily Stock Returns," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 27(3), pages 465-478, September.
    12. Neuenkirch, Matthias & Neumeier, Florian, 2015. "The impact of UN and US economic sanctions on GDP growth," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 40(PA), pages 110-125.
    13. Laurence Booth & Varouj Aivazian & Asli Demirguc‐Kunt & Vojislav Maksimovic, 2001. "Capital Structures in Developing Countries," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 56(1), pages 87-130, February.
    14. Afesorgbor, Sylvanus Kwaku, 2019. "The impact of economic sanctions on international trade: How do threatened sanctions compare with imposed sanctions?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 11-26.
    15. Newey, Whitney & West, Kenneth, 2014. "A simple, positive semi-definite, heteroscedasticity and autocorrelation consistent covariance matrix," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 33(1), pages 125-132.
    16. Abubakr Saeed & Yacine Belghitar & Ephraim Clark, 2015. "Political Connections and Leverage: Firm‐level Evidence from Pakistan," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 36(6), pages 364-383, September.
    17. Gary Clyde Hufbauer & Jeffrey J. Schott & Kimberly Ann Elliott, 2009. "Economic Sanctions Reconsidered, 3rd Edition (paper)," Peterson Institute Press: All Books, Peterson Institute for International Economics, number 4129, April.
    18. Mara Faccio, 2006. "Politically Connected Firms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(1), pages 369-386, March.
    19. Michael L. Lemmon & Michael R. Roberts & Jaime F. Zender, 2008. "Back to the Beginning: Persistence and the Cross‐Section of Corporate Capital Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(4), pages 1575-1608, August.
    20. Larry H. P. Lang & Mara Faccio & Leslie Young, 2001. "Dividends and Expropriation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(1), pages 54-78, March.
    21. Murray Z. Frank & Vidhan K. Goyal, 2009. "Capital Structure Decisions: Which Factors Are Reliably Important?," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 38(1), pages 1-37, March.
    22. Ana Paula Serra, 2002. "Event Study Tests: A brief survey," FEP Working Papers 117, Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia do Porto.
    23. Jahan-Parvar, Mohammad R. & Mohammadi, Hassan, 2013. "Risk and return in the Tehran stock exchange," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 53(3), pages 238-256.
    24. Hovakimian, Armen & Opler, Tim & Titman, Sheridan, 2001. "The Debt-Equity Choice," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 36(1), pages 1-24, March.
    25. Lam, San Ling, 1990. "Economic sanctions and the success of foreign policy goals : A critical evaluation," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 2(3), pages 239-248, September.
    26. Narjess Boubakri & Jean-Claude Cosset & Walid Saffar, 2012. "The Impact Of Political Connections On Firms’ Operating Performance And Financing Decisions," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 35(3), pages 397-423, September.
    27. Corrado, Charles J., 1989. "A nonparametric test for abnormal security-price performance in event studies," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 385-395, August.
    28. Gary Clyde Hufbauer & Jeffrey J. Schott & Kimberly Ann Elliott, 2009. "Economic Sanctions Reconsidered, 3rd Edition softcover with CD," Peterson Institute Press: All Books, Peterson Institute for International Economics, number 4310, January.
    29. MARA FACCIO & RONALD W. MASULIS & JOHN J. McCONNELL, 2006. "Political Connections and Corporate Bailouts," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(6), pages 2597-2635, December.
    30. Faccio, Mara & Parsley, David C., 2009. "Sudden Deaths: Taking Stock of Geographic Ties," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 44(3), pages 683-718, June.
    31. Wald, John K, 1999. "How Firm Characteristics Affect Capital Structure: An International Comparison," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 22(2), pages 161-187, Summer.
    32. Victoria Golikova & Boris Kuznetsov, 2017. "Perception of risks associated with economic sanctions: the case of Russian manufacturing," Post-Soviet Affairs, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(1), pages 49-62, January.
    33. repec:bla:jfinan:v:44:y:1989:i:1:p:19-40 is not listed on IDEAS
    34. Hayne E. Leland., 1998. "Agency Costs, Risk Management, and Capital Structure," Research Program in Finance Working Papers RPF-278, University of California at Berkeley.
    35. Brown, Stephen J. & Warner, Jerold B., 1980. "Measuring security price performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 205-258, September.
    36. A. Craig MacKinlay, 1997. "Event Studies in Economics and Finance," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(1), pages 13-39, March.
    37. John K. Wald, 1999. "How Firm Characteristics Affect Capital Structure: An International Comparison," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 22(2), pages 161-187, June.
    38. Raymond Fisman, 2001. "Estimating the Value of Political Connections," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(4), pages 1095-1102, September.
    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. Aflatooni, Abbas & Ghaderi, Kaveh & Mansouri, Kefsan, 2022. "Sanctions against Iran, political connections and speed of adjustment," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(PB).
    2. Jamila Abaidi Hasnaoui & Syed Kumail Abbas Rizvi & Krishna Reddy & Nawazish Mirza & Bushra Naqvi, 2021. "Human capital efficiency, performance, market, and volatility timing of asian equity funds during COVID-19 outbreak," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 22(5), pages 360-375, September.
    3. Zaytsev, Yu. & Loshchenkova, A., 2024. "The impact of sanctions on the revenues of Russian companies," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, vol. 63(2), pages 57-74.
    4. Sajjad Faraji Dizaji & Mohammad Reza Farzanegan, 2024. "The Impact of US Trade Sanctions on the Global Trade of Target Countries: Do the Political Institutions of the Targets Matter?," CESifo Working Paper Series 10910, CESifo.
    5. Mohammad Aghapour Sabbaghi & Afsaneh Naeimifar, 2022. "Analysis of import substitution policy with an emphasis on environmental issues based on environmental input–output (EIO) model," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(12), pages 14130-14162, December.
    6. Farzanegan Mohammad Reza & Batmanghelidj Esfandyar, 2023. "Understanding Economic Sanctions on Iran: A Survey," The Economists' Voice, De Gruyter, vol. 20(2), pages 197-226, December.
    7. Iglesias, Emma M., 2022. "The influence of extreme events such as Brexit and Covid-19 on equity markets," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 418-430.
    8. Kamer-Ainur Aivaz & Ionela Florea Munteanu & Mari-Isabella Stan & Alina Chiriac, 2022. "A Multivariate Analysis of the Links between Transport Noncompliance and Financial Uncertainty in Times of COVID-19 Pandemics and War," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-23, August.

    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. Saeed Ghasseminejad & Mohammad R. Jahan-Parvar, 2020. "The Impact of Financial Sanctions: The Case of Iran 2011-2016," International Finance Discussion Papers 1281, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    2. Aflatooni, Abbas & Ghaderi, Kaveh & Mansouri, Kefsan, 2022. "Sanctions against Iran, political connections and speed of adjustment," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(PB).
    3. Bülent Köksal & Cüneyt Orman, 2015. "Determinants of capital structure: evidence from a major developing economy," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 44(2), pages 255-282, February.
    4. Braham, Rihem & de Peretti, Christian & Belkacem, Lotfi, 2023. "Political patronage and banks’ leverage in the Middle Eastern and North African region: A new neural panel regression analysis," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 298-306.
    5. Ebrahim, M. Shahid & Girma, Sourafel & Shah, M. Eskandar & Williams, Jonathan, 2014. "Dynamic capital structure and political patronage: The case of Malaysia," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 117-128.
    6. Coulomb, Renaud & Sangnier, Marc, 2014. "The impact of political majorities on firm value: Do electoral promises or friendship connections matter?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 158-170.
    7. Miguel Acedo-Ramírez & Juan Ayala-Calvo & José Rodríguez-Osés, 2013. "Capital structure of small companies in the Spanish footwear sector: relevant factors," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 4(2), pages 155-173, June.
    8. Anwar, Sajid & Sun, Sizhong, 2015. "Can the presence of foreign investment affect the capital structure of domestic firms?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 32-43.
    9. Tran Manh Ha & Doan Ngoc Thang, 2023. "Economic sanction and global sourcing complexity: A cross‐country analysis," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(4), pages 1017-1050, April.
    10. Mai, Nhat Chi, 2012. "Market timing, taxes and capital structure: evidence from Vietnam," OSF Preprints t3mvs, Center for Open Science.
    11. Bontempi, Maria Elena & Bottazzi, Laura & Golinelli, Roberto, 2020. "A multilevel index of heterogeneous short-term and long-term debt dynamics," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    12. Jackowicz, Krzysztof & Kozłowski, Łukasz & Podgórski, Błażej & Winkler-Drews, Tadeusz, 2020. "Do political connections shield from negative shocks? Evidence from rating changes in advanced emerging economies," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    13. Luechinger, Simon & Moser, Christoph, 2014. "The value of the revolving door: Political appointees and the stock market," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 93-107.
    14. Antonczyk, Ron Christian & Salzmann, Astrid Juliane, 2014. "Overconfidence and optimism: The effect of national culture on capital structure," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 132-151.
    15. Aktas, Nihat & de Bodt, Eric & Cousin, Jean-Gabriel, 2007. "Event studies with a contaminated estimation period," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 129-145, March.
    16. Fink, Alexander & Stahl, Jörg R., 2020. "The value of international political connections: Evidence from Trump's 2016 surprise election," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 691-700.
    17. Mustafa Caglayan & Abdul Rashid, 2010. "The response of firms' leverage to uncertainty: Evidence from UK public versus non-public firms," Working Papers 2010019, The University of Sheffield, Department of Economics, revised Oct 2010.
    18. Michael J. Brennan & Holger Kraft, 2018. "Leaning Against the Wind: Debt Financing in the Face of Adversity," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 47(3), pages 485-518, September.
    19. Corrado, Charles J. & Truong, Cameron, 2008. "Conducting event studies with Asia-Pacific security market data," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 16(5), pages 493-521, November.
    20. Andrieș, Alin Marius & Nistor, Simona & Ongena, Steven & Sprincean, Nicu, 2020. "On Becoming an O-SII (“Other Systemically Important Institution”)," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Financial sanctions; Capital structure; Event study; Political connections; Iran; National security;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D74 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances; Revolutions
    • H56 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - National Security and War
    • F51 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - International Conflicts; Negotiations; Sanctions
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G39 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Other

    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:jpolmo:v:43:y:2021:i:3:p:601-621. 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/inca/505735 .

    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.