Cost of Capital Effects and Changes in Growth Expectations around U.S. Cross-Listings

Abstract:     
This paper examines whether cross-listing in the U.S. reduces foreign firms' costs of capital. While prior studies show that U.S. cross-listings are associated with substantial increases in firm value, the sources of these valuation effects are not well understood. We estimate cost of capital effects implied by market prices and analyst forecasts, which accounts for changes in growth expectations around cross-listings. We find strong evidence that firms with cross-listings on U.S. exchanges experience a significant decrease in their cost of capital between 70 to 120 basis points. These effects are sustained and still present after the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Consistent with the bonding hypothesis, we find smaller cost of capital reductions for firms that cross-list in the over-the-counter market and for exchange-listed firms from countries with stronger home-country institutions. For exchange-traded cross-listings, the reduction in cost of capital accounts for more than half of the increase in value around cross-listings, whereas for the other types of cross-listings the valuation effects are primarily attributable to contemporaneous revisions in growth expectations.

Keywords: Cross-listing, corporate governance, bonding hypothesis, cost of equity, disclosure, law and finance, international finance

JEL Classifications: G12, G15, G38, G30, K22, M41

Working Paper Series