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Shareholder Protection and the Cost of Capital Empirical Evidence from German and Italian Firms

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Abstract

We investigate implications for the cost of capital in a model with agency conflicts between inside and outside shareholders, where the severity of agency costs depends on a parameter representing investor protection. Using firm-level data for Italy and Germany we find significant differences in shareholder protection and its implications for the firm’s ownership structure and the cost of capital. Results indicate that concentrated inside ownership increases the cost of capital for Italian firms while having no significant impact on the cost of capital for German firms. Evidence also suggests bank influence in Germany may serve to reduce investor risk for outside shareholders. In contrast, the magnitude of capital stock distortions is found to be quite important in Italy. Overall, slow growth in continental Europe may be more closely linked to institutional differences in shareholder protection between countries rather than inside ownership of firms.

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Paper provided by Institute for Economic Research on Firms and Growth - Moncalieri (TO) in its series CERIS Working Paper with number 200608.

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Length: 27 pages
Date of creation: Dec 2006
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:csc:cerisp:200608

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Keywords: Shareholder protection; ownership structure; cost of capital; agency costs; underinvestment;

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References

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  1. Rafael LaPorta & Florencio Lopez de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1996. "Law and Finance," Harvard Institute of Economic Research Working Papers 1768, Harvard - Institute of Economic Research.
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  9. La Porta, Rafael & Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio & Schleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert, 2001. "Investor Protection and Corporate Governance," Working Paper Series rwp01-017, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
  10. Chirinko, R-S & Elston, J-A, 1997. "Finance, Control, and Profitability : An Evaluation of German Bank Influence," Papers 28, American Institute for Contemporary German Studies-.
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Cited by:
  1. David Card & Francesco Devicienti & Agata Maida, 2010. "Rent-sharing, Holdup, and Wages: Evidence from Matched Panel Data," NBER Working Papers 16192, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  2. Cristian Bartolucci & Francesco Devicienti, 2012. "Better Workers Move to Better Firms: A Simple Test to Identify Sorting," Carlo Alberto Notebooks 259, Collegio Carlo Alberto.
  3. Elston, Julie Ann & Yang, J. Jimmy, 2010. "Venture capital, ownership structure, accounting standards and IPO underpricing: Evidence from Germany," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 62(6), pages 517-536, November.

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