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Taming Leviathan: Mitigating Political Interference in Sovereign Wealth Funds’ Public Equity Investments

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  • Bernardo Bortolotti
  • Veljko Fotak
  • Giacomo Loss

Abstract

Extant research finds that announcement-period abnormal returns of sovereign wealth fund (SWF) equity investments in publicly traded firms are positive but lower than those of comparable private investments. We investigate the determinants of this “SWF discount” and mitigating mechanisms. We find that the discount is deeper for domestic investments and for SWFs from non-democratic countries, suggesting it is caused by the threat of political interference. While SWFs from non-democratic countries experience larger discounts, lower profitability, and lower valuation when signaling an active stance (buying large stakes, acquiring control, and investing directly), the opposite is true for SWFs from democratic countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Bernardo Bortolotti & Veljko Fotak & Giacomo Loss, 2017. "Taming Leviathan: Mitigating Political Interference in Sovereign Wealth Funds’ Public Equity Investments," BAFFI CAREFIN Working Papers 1764, BAFFI CAREFIN, Centre for Applied Research on International Markets Banking Finance and Regulation, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy.
    • Handle: RePEc:baf:cbafwp:cbafwp1764
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    Cited by:

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    3. Ghouma, Hatem H. & Ouni, Zeineb, 2022. "SWF investments and debt maturity of target firms: An international evidence," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 46(PA).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Sovereign wealth fund; state ownership;

    JEL classification:

    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G15 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - International Financial Markets
    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation

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