公司上櫃轉上市是否影響其投資對現金流量之敏感度 －美國股市實證分析

Abstract

Baker and Edelman (1992a, 1992b) and Baker, Powell, and Weaver (1999b) find a positive relationship between listing switches and visibility. Improved visibility suggests greater flow and accessibility of information about a firm, which in turn may reduce information asymmetry and the uncertainty about a firm’s prospects. Reducing information asymmetry and risk may enable firms to lower their cost of external capital and to reduce their financing constraints. Accordingly, when firms can easily acquire less expensive external capital, their investment sensitivity to cash flow should decrease. We examine the relationship between listing switches and the investment sensitivity to cash flow for switching firms. We hypothesize that firms switching their listing from NASDAQ to the NYSE have significantly lower investment sensitivity to cash flow due to improved visibility, and hence improved cost of external equity. Based on a sample of 157 switching firms during 1992-2002, the evidence shows that a firm’s visibility and liquidity increase after switching to a larger exchange. These benefits of switching may enable firms to reduce their financing constraints by reducing information asymmetry.