Equal opportunity market

Purpose - This paper aims to compare US market reactions to the restatement announcements of foreign firms listed in the USA and those of US firms by applying the Capital Market Liability of Foreignness (CMLOF) concept. It further investigates the incremental effect of an improved information environment, proxied by analyst following, on mitigating the negative market reaction to a restatement for foreign vs domestic firms. Design/methodology/approach - Regression tests are performed on a matched-sample, which matches foreign and domestic firms based on industry and firm size. Market reaction is defined as three-day abnormal stock returns calculated using a market model. The sources of CMLOF are defined as institutional distance, information costs, unfamiliarity costs and cultural distance. Findings - Results suggest that, on average, the magnitude of the market reaction to a restatement is 1.8 per cent lower for foreign firms than for domestic firms. Information and unfamiliarity costs contribute to the differing market reactions. In addition, it appears that the improved information environment created by a higher analyst following is more important for foreign firms who face CMLOF than for domestic firms. Originality/value - While prior research establishes a negative market reaction to restatement announcements, comparing the market reactions for foreign and domestic firms provides evidence regarding whether US investors treat foreign and domestic firms differently. Additionally, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that examines CMLOF using restatement announcements.