Market capitalization

About: Market capitalization is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 3583 publications have been published within this topic receiving 77288 citations. The topic is also known as: market cap & market value.

Market Reaction to Control Deficiency Disclosures Under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act: The Early Evidence

Abstract: Sections 302 and 404 of the landmark Sarbanes-Oxley Act require firms to periodically assess and report control deficiencies to the audit committee as well as to the SEC. Section 302 specifically directs company management to identify and report control deficiencies while Section 404 provides the discipline that forces companies to take the control assessment and reporting task seriously. Importantly, external auditors are required to opine separately on the effectiveness of their client's system of internal control over financial reporting and issue an adverse opinion on internal control in the presence of even a single material weakness. Prior to being mandated by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, management was not required to assess and report on the state of internal controls in their company. Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) #60, which provided guidance to the external auditors on these matters, afforded them a great deal of flexibility and judgment not only in determining what constituted a reportable condition but also limited their disclosure only to the audit committee of the board. In a recent speech, Donald T. Nicolaisen, the SEC's Chief Accountant, remarks that these new requirements are not only a major financial but also a significant cultural endeavor for registrants in the U.S. and abroad. Consequently, these new requirements have drawn uproar and concern from companies of all sizes and market capitalization. Given the outcry from companies and regulatory assertions that these disclosures are the best thing that has ever happened to the capital markets, we examine whether such control deficiency disclosures convey valuation-relevant information to the market. This issue is important because increasing disclosure requirements without any attendant effect on valuation would impose unnecessary deadweight costs. The disclosures employed in our study were not mandatory under Section 404 at the time our sample firms made them. While there may be many reasons why our sample firms report these deficiencies early, these disclosures may portend the effect to be faced by other firms when the Section 404 rule becomes binding. Consistent with the regulatory assertions, we find that such disclosures are associated with a negative stock price reaction, on average, indicating that such disclosures do indeed convey valuation-relevant information. This reaction is mitigated to some extent, but not fully, if management also discloses that remediation steps have been taken to correct the weaknesses identified in the disclosures. Additionally, the price reaction is less negative for firms employing a Big Four auditing firm. Conversely, the reaction is more negative for firms with larger current liabilities relative to total assets, which suggests that control weaknesses may have implications for increased default risk.

Stock Market Developments and Private Consumer Spending in Emerging Markets

Abstract: Using a panel of 16 emerging markets, the paper finds a small but statistically significant effect of stock market developments on private consumption spending. In the short run, a 10 percent decline in the annual real stock market return is associated with a reduction in real private consumption by around 0.1-0.3 percent on average. There is evidence that the link between stock market fluctuations and private consumption has become stronger during the 1990s as stock markets in emerging economies have broadened and deepened. However, there is no significant evidence that the influence is asymmetric. Stock price declines do not have a different impact on consumption than stock price increases.

Sustainable development goals (SDG) reporting: an analysis of disclosure

Abstract: Purpose The global agenda of sustainable development goals (SDGs) has posed a major challenge to corporate organizations by addressing sustainability issues within their business model and strategy. Based on this premise, this study provides empirical examination of SDG reporting of the top fifty (50) listed companies in Nigeria for the period of 2016–2018. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts survey method and content analysis technique to analyze corporate SDG reporting of the selected firms. The study examines the top-50 listed firms in Nigeria based on their market capitalization. Questionnaires were distributed to financial managers of the top-50 listed firms and staffs of the big four audit firms from the governance and sustainability department. The fifty (50) firms selected are as follows: 17 firms from the financial sector, 13 firms from the consumer goods sector, 5 firms from the healthcare sector, 6 firms from the oil and gas sector, 5 firms from the industrial goods sector and 4 firms from the information technology sector. The content analysis was utilized through the PwC framework, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework and International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) framework to gage the extent of firms' compliance regarding corporate SDG reporting. Also, the business reporting indicators for each SDG developed by GRI was employed to determine the compliance level of the selected firms with respect to corporate SDG reporting. Findings The empirical evidence shows that corporate organizations in Nigeria have performed poorly in corporate SDG reporting. The result of the survey reveals that lack of regulatory framework and voluntary disclosure are the major factors that contributes to low level of SDG reporting by Nigerian firms. Also, the result of the content analysis shows poor reporting on SDG activities. The result of the research survey indicates that voluntary disclosure, lack of management commitment and lack of regulatory enforcement accounts for low SDG disclosure by the selected Nigerian firms. Practical implications This study's findings call for clear responsibility and a strong drive for SDG performance from corporate institutions in Nigeria. Whilst the overall responsibility rests on the government, the actualization of SDG cannot be achieved without support from corporate organizations. The empirical approach used in this study emphasizes the need for corporate organizations to embrace sustainable practices and to integrate SDG information into their reporting cycle. Originality/value This study contributes to growing literature in the area of corporate reporting and SDG research in Nigeria and other emerging economies.

Multinationality and stock market valuation: an empirical study of u.s. markets and companies

Abstract: It should be noted that this growth in overseas profits took place in spite of increasing nationalism in host countries leading to restrictions on overseas operations and increasing uncertainty in world financial markets especially in the seventies. The rewards of going overseas or the penalties of not going overseas must have been more than the difficulties encountered. The reasons for undertaking foreign direct investment are numerous2, and for some companies they certainly include the need to go overseas to stay competitive in the U.S. Whatever the reasons for a particular company, more and more companies must and are becoming multinational while companies that are already multinational are not likely to reduce their overseas involvement significantly. The purpose of this paper is to examine if on the average U.S. investors reward U.S. companies for going overseas. It has traditionally been assumed that a multinational company (MNC) should have a higher Price/Earnings (P/E) ratio than a comparable company that is purely domestic because of the opportunity for international risk diversification offered to investors by MNCs. While recent results of Solnik and others support that hypothesis3, the conclusions drawn by Adler and some others question the optimality of companies diversifying internationally as contrasted to such diversification by investors themselves.4 This paper attempts to provide empirical evidence regarding the stock market valuation of multinationality. The overseas involvement of U.S.-based multinational companies as measured by the percentage of foreign sales, foreign income, and foreign assets are related to the company's cost of equity capital, systematic risk, P/E ratio, and other variables. In the first part of the paper, some of the issues relevant to determining the optimality of international diversification by U.S. multinationals are discussed in view of other investment opportunities available to U.S. investors. Next, the results of other related empirical studies are examined as to U.S. investor reaction to multinationality among U.S. companies, as well as where this study fits in. The second part of this paper details the data