IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ecl/stabus/repececlstabus3604.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Reverse Mergers, Shell Value, and Regulation Risk in Chinese Equity Markets

Author

Listed:
  • Lee, Charles M. C.

    (Stanford University)

  • Qu, Yuanyu

    (Tsinghua University)

  • Shen, Tao

    (Tsinghua University)

Abstract

Using a comprehensive sample of reverse merger (RM) transactions, we examine the effects of China's IPO regulations on the prices and returns of its publicly listed stocks. During 2007-2015, unlisted Chinese firms paid an average of 3 to 4 Billion RMB for each listed shell, an amount exceeding 2/3 of the median market capitalization of a listed firm. This large shell premium varies over time and is sensitive to regulatory shocks. In the cross-section, a portfolio that longs (shorts) the highest (lowest) estimated shell probability (ESP) firms earns substantial abnormal returns. Adding an ESP-based factor to five common factors improves return attribution and eliminates the notoriously large Size premium. Consistent with theory, ESP also explains the sensitivity of prices to corporate earnings, and predicts the likelihood of firms to undertake major asset restructurings (MARs). We conclude China's IPO regulations impose a high cost on the functional efficiency of its financial system.

Suggested Citation

  • Lee, Charles M. C. & Qu, Yuanyu & Shen, Tao, 2017. "Reverse Mergers, Shell Value, and Regulation Risk in Chinese Equity Markets," Research Papers repec:ecl:stabus:3604, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    • Handle: RePEc:ecl:stabus:repec:ecl:stabus:3604
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/gsb-cmis/gsb-cmis-download-auth/443351
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Citations

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


    Cited by:

    1. Lin William Cong & Sabrina T. Howell, 2021. "Policy Uncertainty and Innovation: Evidence from Initial Public Offering Interventions in China," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(11), pages 7238-7261, November.
    2. Liu, Jianan & Stambaugh, Robert F. & Yuan, Yu, 2019. "Size and value in China," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(1), pages 48-69.
    3. Liu, Wei & Tian, Gary Gang, 2022. "Controlling shareholder share pledging and the cost of equity capital: Evidence from China," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(6).
    4. Lee, Charles M.C. & Qu, Yuanyu & Shen, Tao, 2019. "Going public in China: Reverse mergers versus IPOs," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 92-111.
    5. Chang, Danting, 2021. "Fundamental anomalies and the size puzzle in China: A data mining approach," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 42(C).
    6. Carpenter, Jennifer N. & Lu, Fangzhou & Whitelaw, Robert F., 2021. "The real value of China’s stock market," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(3), pages 679-696.
    7. Wan, Die & Yang, Teng & Yang, Xiaoguang, 2021. "IPO relative difficulty, M&A option and size effect," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    8. Ma, Tian & Leong, Wen Jun & Jiang, Fuwei, 2023. "A latent factor model for the Chinese stock market," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    9. Liu, Yu & Yang, Lingxuan & Xiong, Lu, 2023. "Performance commitments and the properties of analyst earnings forecasts: Evidence from Chinese reverse merger firms," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • G18 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:ecl:stabus:repec:ecl:stabus:3604. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/gsstaus.html .

    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.