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No News is News: Do Markets Underreact to Nothing?

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  • Stefano Giglio
  • Kelly Shue

Abstract

As illustrated in the tale of "the dog that did not bark," the absence of news and the passage of time often contain information. We test whether markets fully incorporate this information using the empirical context of mergers. During the year after merger announcement, the passage of time is informative about the probability that the merger will ultimately complete. We show that the variation in hazard rates of completion after announcement strongly predicts returns. This pattern is consistent with a behavioral model of underreaction to the passage of time and cannot be explained by changes in risk or frictions.

Suggested Citation

  • Stefano Giglio & Kelly Shue, 2013. "No News is News: Do Markets Underreact to Nothing?," NBER Working Papers 18914, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:18914
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    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Something happening in reaction to nothing
      by Economic Logician in Economic Logic on 2013-04-15 19:55:00

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    Cited by:

    1. Carletti, Elena & Ongena, Steven & Siedlarek, Jan-Peter & Spagnolo, Giancarlo, 2015. "The Impact of Merger Legislation on Bank Mergers," Discussion Paper Series of SFB/TR 15 Governance and the Efficiency of Economic Systems 530, Free University of Berlin, Humboldt University of Berlin, University of Bonn, University of Mannheim, University of Munich.
    2. Joseph D. Piotroski & T. J. Wong & Tianyu Zhang, 2015. "Political Incentives to Suppress Negative Information: Evidence from Chinese Listed Firms," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(2), pages 405-459, May.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G02 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Behavioral Finance: Underlying Principles
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance

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