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The invisible burden

Author

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  • Liu, Xin
  • Yin, Chengxi
  • Zheng, Weinan
Abstract
We study the role of goodwill, an important form of intangible assets arising from merger and acquisitions (M&As), on asset pricing. We find that goodwill-to-sales strongly and negatively predicts the cross-section of U.S. stock returns, especially among firms with cross-industry M&As and firms with overconfident CEOs. It remains an economically and statistically significant predictor of stock returns after adjustment for common factors. Our results suggest that goodwill-to-sales subsumes information on firm value, and stock markets underreact to this information because the fair value of goodwill is unobservable and hard to evaluate.

Suggested Citation

  • Liu, Xin & Yin, Chengxi & Zheng, Weinan, 2021. "The invisible burden," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finmar:v:52:y:2021:i:c:s1386418120300306
    DOI: 10.1016/j.finmar.2020.100561
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Goodwill; Return predictability; Cash flows; Underreaction; Market inefficiency;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • 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

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