IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/iwhdps/iwh-1-16.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Do courts matter for firm value? Evidence from the U.S. court system

Author

Listed:
  • Colonnello, Stefano
  • Herpfer, Christoph

Abstract

We estimate the impact of U.S. state court characteristics on firm value by exploiting a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that exogenously changed firms‘ exposure to different courts. We find that increased exposure to more business-friendly courts is associated with positive announcement returns. We find no such association for objective court quality. We confirm that this U.S. Supreme Court ruling impacted firm value through the legal environment channel. We show that this ruling reduced the ability of affected firms to remove cases from certain state courts, and we show that announcement returns are stronger for firms that have high litigation exposure.

Suggested Citation

  • Colonnello, Stefano & Herpfer, Christoph, 2018. "Do courts matter for firm value? Evidence from the U.S. court system," IWH Discussion Papers 1/2016, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH), revised 2018.
  • Handle: RePEc:zbw:iwhdps:iwh-1-16
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/179038/1/iwh-dp-01-2016.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bo Becker & Per Strömberg, 2012. "Fiduciary Duties and Equity-debtholder Conflicts," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 25(6), pages 1931-1969.
    2. Larcker, David F. & Ormazabal, Gaizka & Taylor, Daniel J., 2011. "The market reaction to corporate governance regulation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(2), pages 431-448, August.
    3. Bo Becker & Daniel Bergstresser & Guhan Subramanian, 2013. "Does Shareholder Proxy Access Improve Firm Value? Evidence from the Business Roundtable's Challenge," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56(1), pages 127-160.
    4. Gennaro Bernile & Alok Kumar & Johan Sulaeman, 2015. "Home away from Home: Geography of Information and Local Investors," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 28(7), pages 2009-2049.
    5. Dodd, Peter & Leftwich, Richard, 1980. "The Market for Corporate Charters: "Unhealthy Competition versus Federal Regulation."," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 53(3), pages 259-283, July.
    6. Theodore M. Crone, 2005. "An Alternative Definition of Economic Regions in the United States Based on Similarities in State Business Cycles," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(4), pages 617-626, November.
    7. Massoud, Nadia & Saunders, Anthony & Scholnick, Barry, 2011. "The cost of being late? The case of credit card penalty fees," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 49-59, June.
    8. Alberto Abadie & Guido W. Imbens, 2002. "Simple and Bias-Corrected Matching Estimators for Average Treatment Effects," NBER Technical Working Papers 0283, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Kim, Irene & Skinner, Douglas J., 2012. "Measuring securities litigation risk," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 290-310.
    10. Yaniv Grinstein & Stefano Rossi, 2016. "Good Monitoring, Bad Monitoring," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 20(5), pages 1719-1768.
    11. Gayle Delong & Robert Deyoung, 2007. "Learning by Observing: Information Spillovers in the Execution and Valuation of Commercial Bank M&As," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 62(1), pages 181-216, February.
    12. Blaise Gadanecz, 2004. "The syndicated loan market," BIS Quarterly Review, Bank for International Settlements, December.
    13. Meyer, Bruce D, 1995. "Natural and Quasi-experiments in Economics," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 13(2), pages 151-161, April.
    14. Kristina Minnick & Haluk Unal & Liu Yang, 2011. "Pay for Performance? CEO Compensation and Acquirer Returns in BHCs," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 24(2), pages 439-472.
    15. Jim Armstrong, 2003. "The Syndicated Loan Market: Developments in the North American Context," Staff Working Papers 03-15, Bank of Canada.
    16. Romano, Roberta, 1985. "Law as a Product: Some Pieces of the Incorporation Puzzle," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 1(2), pages 225-283, Fall.
    17. Marianne Bertrand & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2003. "Enjoying the Quiet Life? Corporate Governance and Managerial Preferences," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 111(5), pages 1043-1075, October.
    18. Jith Jayaratne & Philip E. Strahan, 1996. "The Finance-Growth Nexus: Evidence from Bank Branch Deregulation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 111(3), pages 639-670.
    19. Hay, Jonathan R & Shleifer, Andrei, 1998. "Private Enforcement of Public Laws: A Theory of Legal Reform," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(2), pages 398-403, May.
    20. Theodore Eisenberg, 2009. "U.S. Chamber of Commerce Liability Survey: Inaccurate, Unfair, and Bad for Business," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 6(4), pages 969-1002, December.
    21. Alberto Abadie & David Drukker & Jane Leber Herr & Guido W. Imbens, 2004. "Implementing matching estimators for average treatment effects in Stata," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 4(3), pages 290-311, September.
    22. Xavier Giroud, 2013. "Proximity and Investment: Evidence from Plant-Level Data," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 128(2), pages 861-915.
    23. Heron, Randall A. & Lewellen, Wilbur G., 1998. "An Empirical Analysis of the Reincorporation Decision," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 33(4), pages 549-568, December.
    24. Bebchuk, Lucian Arye & Cohen, Alma, 2003. "Firms' Decisions Where to Incorporate," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 46(2), pages 383-425, October.
    25. Lauren Cohen & Umit G. Gurun & Scott Duke Kominers, 2019. "Patent Trolls: Evidence from Targeted Firms," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(12), pages 5461-5486, December.
    26. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 1993. "Common risk factors in the returns on stocks and bonds," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 3-56, February.
    27. Lowry, Michelle & Shu, Susan, 2002. "Litigation risk and IPO underpricing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 309-335, September.
    28. Schwert, G William, 1981. "Using Financial Data to Measure Effects of Regulation," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 24(1), pages 121-158, April.
    29. García, Diego & Norli, Øyvind, 2012. "Geographic dispersion and stock returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(3), pages 547-565.
    30. Irena Hutton & Danling Jiang & Alok Kumar, 2015. "Political Values, Culture, and Corporate Litigation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 61(12), pages 2905-2925, December.
    31. Bhagat, Sanjai & Brickley, James A. & Coles, Jeffrey L., 1994. "The costs of inefficient bargaining and financial distress *1: Evidence from corporate lawsuits," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 221-247, April.
    32. Martha J. Bailey, 2006. "More Power to the Pill: The Impact of Contraceptive Freedom on Women's Life Cycle Labor Supply," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 121(1), pages 289-320.
    33. Michal Barzuza & David C. Smith, 2014. "What Happens in Nevada? Self-Selecting into Lax Law," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 27(12), pages 3593-3627.
    34. Baruch Lev & Christine Petrovits & Suresh Radhakrishnan, 2010. "Is doing good good for you? how corporate charitable contributions enhance revenue growth," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(2), pages 182-200, February.
    35. Cohen, Alma & Wang, Charles C.Y., 2013. "How do staggered boards affect shareholder value? Evidence from a natural experiment," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(3), pages 627-641.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chowdhury, Rajib & Doukas, John A. & Park, Jong Chool, 2021. "Stakeholder orientation and the value of cash holdings: Evidence from a natural experiment," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    2. Lauren Cohen & Umit G. Gurun & Scott Duke Kominers, 2019. "Patent Trolls: Evidence from Targeted Firms," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(12), pages 5461-5486, December.
    3. Pham, Mia Hang, 2020. "In law we trust: Lawyer CEOs and stock liquidity," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    4. Chen, Zilin & Chu, Liya & Liang, Dawei & Tu, Jun, 2022. "Far away from home: Investors’ underreaction to geographically dispersed information," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    5. Yaniv Grinstein & Stefano Rossi, 2016. "Good Monitoring, Bad Monitoring," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 20(5), pages 1719-1768.
    6. Bhojraj, Sanjeev & Sengupta, Partha & Zhang, Suning, 2017. "Takeover defenses: Entrenchment and efficiency," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 142-160.
    7. Guan, Yuyan & Zhang, Liandong & Zheng, Liu & Zou, Hong, 2021. "Managerial liability and corporate innovation: Evidence from a legal shock," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    8. Wang, Yu-Chun & Chou, Robin K., 2018. "The impact of share pledging regulations on stock trading and firm valuation," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 1-13.
    9. Cohen, Alma & Wang, Charles C.Y., 2013. "How do staggered boards affect shareholder value? Evidence from a natural experiment," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(3), pages 627-641.
    10. Allen Huang & Kai Wai Hui & Reeyarn Zhiyang Li, 2019. "Federal Judge Ideology: A New Measure of Ex Ante Litigation Risk," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(2), pages 431-489, May.
    11. Mazur, Mieszko & Salganik-Shoshan, Galla & Walker, Thomas & Wang, Jun, 2018. "Proximity and litigation: Evidence from the geographic location of institutional investors," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 60-74.
    12. Bhargava, Rahul & Faircloth, Sheri & Zeng, Hongchao, 2017. "Takeover protection and stock price crash risk: Evidence from state antitakeover laws," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 177-184.
    13. Guernsey, Scott & Sepe, Simone M. & Serfling, Matthew, 2022. "Blood in the water: The value of antitakeover provisions during market shocks," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(3), pages 1070-1096.
    14. Chen, Yunsen & Huang, Jianqiao & Xiao, Sheng & Zhao, Ziye, 2020. "The “home bias” of corporate subsidiary locations," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    15. Yonca Ertimur & Fabrizio Ferri & David Oesch, 2018. "Understanding Uncontested Director Elections," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(7), pages 3400-3420, July.
    16. Goergen, Marc & Renneboog, Luc, 2008. "Contractual corporate governance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 166-182, June.
    17. Ni, Xiaoran & Song, Wei & Yao, Jiaquan, 2020. "Stakeholder orientation and corporate payout policy: Insights from state legal shocks," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    18. Divya Anantharaman & Feng Gao & Hariom Manchiraju, 2022. "Does social responsibility begin at home? The relation between firms’ pension policies and corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 27(1), pages 76-121, March.
    19. Mayer, Colin & Becht, Marco & Wagner, Hannes, 2006. "Where Do Firms Incorporate?," CEPR Discussion Papers 5875, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    20. Younge, Kenneth A. & Tong, Tony W., 2018. "Competitive pressure on the rate and scope of innovation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 162-181.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    courts; litigation; governance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • K40 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - General

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:zbw:iwhdps:iwh-1-16. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iwhhhde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.