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How economic policy uncertainty affects the cost of raising equity capital: Evidence from seasoned equity offerings

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  • Chan, Yue-Cheong
  • Saffar, Walid
  • Wei, K.C. John

Abstract

Economic policy uncertainty (EPU) increases the cost of raising equity capital, especially when the economy is weak. A one standard deviation increase in the EPU index developed by Baker, Bloom, and Davis (2016) is associated with a 43 basis point increase in the price discount of seasoned equity offerings (SEOs) during the 2000−2014 period. The cross-sectional analysis shows that the EPU effect on SEO discounts is stronger for firms with greater dependence on government spending, less informative stock price, or a smaller EPU beta. Moreover, there are fewer SEO activities in periods when there is a high degree of policy uncertainty.

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  • Chan, Yue-Cheong & Saffar, Walid & Wei, K.C. John, 2021. "How economic policy uncertainty affects the cost of raising equity capital: Evidence from seasoned equity offerings," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finsta:v:53:y:2021:i:c:s1572308920301443
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jfs.2020.100841
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    16. Naimoli, Antonio, 2022. "The information content of sentiment indices for forecasting Value at Risk and Expected Shortfall in equity markets," MPRA Paper 112588, University Library of Munich, Germany.
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    18. Dang, Man & Puwanenthiren, Premkanth & Thai, Hong An & Mazur, Mieszko & Jones, Edward & Vo, Xuan Vinh, 2021. "Policy uncertainty and seasoned equity offerings methods," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Economic policy uncertainty; Seasoned equity offerings; SEO discounts;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G24 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Investment Banking; Venture Capital; Brokerage
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation

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