Investor Sentiment and Corporate Finance: Micro and Macro

14 Pages Posted: 4 Apr 2006 Last revised: 21 Dec 2022

See all articles by Owen A. Lamont

Owen A. Lamont

Harvard University - Department of Economics

Jeremy C. Stein

Harvard University - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: December 2005

Abstract

We document that net equity issuance is considerably more sensitive to aggregate stock returns and Q's than to firm-level stock returns and Q's. Very similar patterns also emerge when we look at merger activity. In light of earlier work (Campbell 1991, Vuolteenaho 2002) which finds that aggregate stock returns are less informative about future cashflows than are firm-level stock returns--and thus, potentially more strongly influenced by investor sentiment--these results suggest that both equity issuance and mergers are to a significant extent driven by market-timing considerations, as opposed to by purely fundamental factors.

Suggested Citation

Lamont, Owen A. and Stein, Jeremy C., Investor Sentiment and Corporate Finance: Micro and Macro (December 2005). NBER Working Paper No. w11882, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=875733

Owen A. Lamont (Contact Author)

Harvard University - Department of Economics ( email )

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Jeremy C. Stein

Harvard University - Department of Economics ( email )

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