The shareholder is supposed to be indifferent if one share costs 100 SEK, or 10 shares cost 10 SEK each. In an efficient market, shares should be valued directly to new expectations as a result of the announcement of the reverse split. We investigate whether abnormal returns incur surrounding reverse split and if owner structure change. One reason for the reverse share split is that most companies have plans to imple-ment other company’s specific events in order to survive rather than to change the price range to a more attractive level. We found a negative return in the ex-day at 8,1 per cent. When the ex-day is pure enough from other price driving information should the outcome be a reaction to how the market perceives changes in future divi-dends after the reverse split. In consideration of stock ownership of votes accounted for a reduction of individual owners, and increasing institutional owners, more in companies with low Market to Book. This may suggest that the institutional share-holders have increased their share of votes to increase their power in the companies.

Este trabalho visa identificar possíveis vantagens que as empresas obtêm ao contribuir com campanhas políticas. Para isso, foi utilizada uma extensa base de dados com informações de doações a candidatos aos cargos de deputado, senador e presidente nas eleições de 2006 e 2010. As variáveis de interesse analisadas foram o retorno anormal cumulativo à época da divulgação do resultado das eleições e o retorno sobre o patrimônio líquido no ano posterior a cada eleição. Foram estimadas regressões de dados em painel através de mínimos quadrados ordinários, e incluídos efeitos fixos de ano e setor das empresas. Os resultados indicam que não apenas o mercado antecipa benefícios futuros para as empresas que contribuíram com campanhas – o que se reflete em retornos anormais cumulativos positivos à época da eleição – mas também estas empresas apresentam retornos sobre o patrimônio líquido superiores aos daquelas que não participaram do processo político. Além disso, doações a candidatos vencedores geram retorno superior aos de doações a candidatos perdedores; o que vai ao encontro da hipótese de retribuição de favores. De forma similar, contribuições a candidatos filiados à coligação do presidente eleito também apresentaram impacto superior quando comparadas com doações a candidatos da oposição. / This paper aims to identify potential benefits that companies obtain by contributing to political campaigns. We used an extensive database with information on donations to House, Senate and Presidency candidates in the 2006 and 2010 elections. The variables of interest analyzed were the cumulative abnormal return by the time the results of each election became know and the return on equity in the year following the election. Panel regressions were estimated as ordinary least squares (OLS), and fixed effects of year and industry were included. The results indicate that not only the market anticipates future benefits for companies that contributed to campaigns - which is reflected in positive cumulative abnormal returns at the announcement of the election results - but these companies also have higher returns on equity than those that were not involved in the political process. In addition, donations to winning candidates generate higher returns than donations to losing candidates; which supports the return of favors hypothesis. Similarly, contributions to candidates affiliated to the president’s coalition's also had higher impact when compared to donations to the oposition candidates.

Background and problem: Underpricing has been examined and determined on multiplefinancial markets around the world, but there is no consensus concerning what exactlydrives it. The phenomenon creates possibilities to identify attractive investment strategiesthat may generate abnormal returns. Therefore, we have chosen to study potential driversof underpricing as well as evaluate two investment strategies in an attempt to find asuperior one. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate which of the following investingstrategies “Subscribe and Sell” and “Buy and Hold” that achieves the highest abnormalreturn on the Swedish IPO-market. This will be examined over an investment horizon upto five months, with five different record dates. Furthermore, the study intends toinvestigate which potential variables that drives the underpricing and stock returns onSwedish IPOs. Method: The study applies a quantitative approach in which we, in line with earlierreference studies, practice T-test to examine which of the strategies “Buy and hold” and“Subscribe and Sell” that is the most successful. Multiple regressions will be applied toexplain the initial underpricing as well as the continued stock returns on IPOs. Ourresearch questions are phrased as hypothesis to simplify the implementation of statisticaltests as well as the interpretation of the results. Theories explaining underpricing of IPOshave been approximated as variables to measure their effect on the IPO. Conclusion: The results from the study states the existence of abnormal returns on theSwedish IPO-market between the years 2012 and 2017. Furthermore, the study confirmsthe “Buy and Hold” strategy to be more successful than the “Subscribe and Sell” strategyover an investment horizon of five months. With premises from the results of the multipleregressions, three out of five variables showed significance, which approximated the theories the Bandwagon effect, the Small Firm Effect and Ex-Ante Uncertainty. Keywords: IPO, underpricing, abnormal return / Bakgrund och problem: Underprissättning har länge studerats och fastställts på flertaletfinansiella marknader runtom i världen, men det råder ingen konsensus om vad som exaktligger till grund för den. Fenomenet skapar möjligheten till att identifiera attraktivainvesteringsstrategier, som potentiellt kan generera en abnormal avkastning. Motbakgrund av detta har vi valt att studera potentiella drivare av underprissättning ochfortsatt aktiekursutveckling samt utvärdera två investeringsstrategier i ett försök av atthitta en överlägsen strategi. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka vilken av investeringsstrategierna “Teckna-Sälj” och “Buy and Hold” som uppnår högst abnormal avkastning på den svenska IPOmarknaden. Detta görs under en investeringshorisont på upp till fem månader, medavstämningsdagar vid fem tillfällen. Vidare ämnar uppsatsen att undersöka vilkapotentiella variabler som driver underprissättning och aktiekursutveckling på svenskabörsnoteringar. Metod: Studien applicerar ett kvantitativt tillvägagångssätt där vi, i linje med tidigarereferensstudier, tillämpar T-test för att undersöka vilken av investeringsstrategierna “Buyand Hold” och “Teckna-Sälj” som är mest överlägsen. Vidare tillämpas även multiplaregressioner för att förklara den initiala underprissättningen samt fortsattaaktiekursutvecklingen på börsnoteringar. Frågeställningarna har formulerats somhypoteser för att förenkla genomförandet av de statistiska testen samt tolkning avresultaten. Teorier som förklarar fenomenet underprissättning har approximerats somvariabler för att mäta deras påverkan på börsnoteringen. Slutsats: Studiens resultat fastställer en existens av abnormal avkastning förbörsnoteringar mellan åren 2012–2017 på den svenska IPO-marknaden. Vidarebekräftas att investeringsstrategin “Buy and Hold” är mer överlägsen “Teckna-Sälj”under en fem månaders investeringshorisont. Med utgångspunkt i resultaten av demultipla regressionerna visade sig tre av de fem variablerna vara signifikanta, vilkauppskattade teorierna bandwagoneffekten, småbolagseffekten samt ex-ante osäkerhet. Nyckelord: IPO, underprissättning, abnormal avkastning

Este trabalho visa identificar possíveis vantagens que as empresas obtêm ao contribuir com campanhas políticas. Para isso, foi utilizada uma extensa base de dados com informações de doações a candidatos aos cargos de deputado, senador e presidente nas eleições de 2006 e 2010. As variáveis de interesse analisadas foram o retorno anormal cumulativo à época da divulgação do resultado das eleições e o retorno sobre o patrimônio líquido no ano posterior a cada eleição. Foram estimadas regressões de dados em painel através de mínimos quadrados ordinários, e incluídos efeitos fixos de ano e setor das empresas. Os resultados indicam que não apenas o mercado antecipa benefícios futuros para as empresas que contribuíram com campanhas – o que se reflete em retornos anormais cumulativos positivos à época da eleição – mas também estas empresas apresentam retornos sobre o patrimônio líquido superiores aos daquelas que não participaram do processo político. Além disso, doações a candidatos vencedores geram retorno superior aos de doações a candidatos perdedores; o que vai ao encontro da hipótese de retribuição de favores. De forma similar, contribuições a candidatos filiados à coligação do presidente eleito também apresentaram impacto superior quando comparadas com doações a candidatos da oposição. / This paper aims to identify potential benefits that companies obtain by contributing to political campaigns. We used an extensive database with information on donations to House, Senate and Presidency candidates in the 2006 and 2010 elections. The variables of interest analyzed were the cumulative abnormal return by the time the results of each election became know and the return on equity in the year following the election. Panel regressions were estimated as ordinary least squares (OLS), and fixed effects of year and industry were included. The results indicate that not only the market anticipates future benefits for companies that contributed to campaigns - which is reflected in positive cumulative abnormal returns at the announcement of the election results - but these companies also have higher returns on equity than those that were not involved in the political process. In addition, donations to winning candidates generate higher returns than donations to losing candidates; which supports the return of favors hypothesis. Similarly, contributions to candidates affiliated to the president’s coalition's also had higher impact when compared to donations to the oposition candidates.

Uppsatsens syfte är att studera värderingseffekten av aktievärdet vid godkännandet av ett nytt läkemedel från ”US Food and Drug Administration”. USA spenderar 17,4% av sin bruttonationalprodukt på hälsovård och en stor del av kostnaden för hälsovård är farmaceutisk försäljning. Uppsatsen undersöker amerikanska läkemedelsföretag som har fått ett läkemedel av typ 1 eller typ 5-klassifikationen godkänt under tidsperioden 2000–2017. Farmaceutiska företag får ett godkännande eller ett avslag och detta event kan påverka både positivt och negativt beroende på utfallet vilket uppsatsen mäter med hjälp av en eventstudie enligt marknadsmodellen.  Resultatet för studien visar en statistiskt signifikant positiv avvikelseavkastning för dag 0 för samtliga bolag tillsammans. Studien visar även en signifikant positiv kumulativ avvikelseavkastning för tre utav fyra eventfönster. / The purpose of the thesis is to study the valuation change when a new drug is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and if there is any difference during the event period. When pharmaceutical companies receive an approval or a refusal this event may both impact the companies positively and negatively depending on the outcome. The results of this study show that there is a significant positive abnormal return for day 0 for all the companies together.

Mycket av forskningen inom den finansiella ekonomin bygger på den effektiva marknadshypotesen som antar att information är korrekt prissatt och att det enda sättet för investerare att systematiskt nå överavkastning är att exponera sig för mer risk. I och med detta blir det relevant att studera om det finns andra sätt för att uppnå detta. En föreslagen metod för att uppnå detta är via De Bondt & Thalers (1985) contrarianstrategi, att köpa översålda respektive blanka överköpta aktier. Det råder dock fortfarande meningsskiljaktighet bland forskare om huruvida dess förekomst är rådande eller ej. Vidare är ett annat outforskat område om dess effekt skiljer sig åt beroende på konjunktur. Syftet med studien är således att undersöka om det existerar överreaktioner på OMXS30 vid stora endagsförändringar på aktiekurser samt om dessa eventuella överreaktioner skiljer sig beroende på rådande konjunkturfas. Data från 1996 till 2017 har använts med en formeringsperiod på 20 dagar och en utvärderingsperiod på 50 dagar.Resultatet mynnade ut i en överreaktionseffekt för de identifierade förlorareventen samt en motsvarande underreaktion för vinnareventen. Konjunkturen visade sig ha en betydande påverkan då överavkastningen var betydligt högre för båda urvalen under perioder av lågkonjunktur. / The efficient market hypothesis is one of the central aspects in financial research which assumes that assets are correctly priced from all available information and that the only way to achieve abnormal return is for investors to expose themselves to more risk. This gives an incentive to investigate whether there are other ways to achieve this. One method could be through De Bondt and Thalers (1985) contrarian strategy, which means that investors buy oversold stocks. The other way around goes for overbought stocks, in which investors consequently short them. There is however a variation in the research whether this method is proven valid or not. Another unexplored subject is regarding its validity in different business cycles. The purpose of this study is to explore if overreactions exists at the Swedish stock index OMXS30. This will be based on substantial daily price movements and whether these potential overreactions differ through the business cycle. Data on all companies included in the index from 1996 to 2017 was analyzed through an event study with an estimation window of 20 days and 50 days post event window.The main findings of this study show that loser stocks did overreact but that winner stocks in an opposite way underreacted. This means that both samples had a positive abnormal return. This abnormal return was substantially higher during recessions than expansions, which indicates that the business cycle has an important role when studying overreactions.

Actions by both private sector organizations and legislators in recent years have highlighted the importance of the audit committee of the board of directors of corporations in the financial reporting process. For example, the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 has multiple sections that deal with the composition and functioning of audit committees. My dissertation examines multiple issues related to the composition of audit committees. In the first two parts of my dissertation, I examine the stock market reactions to disclosures of audit committee appointments and departures in the 8-Ks filed with the SEC during 2008 and 2009. I find that there is a positive stock market reaction to the appointment of audit committee directors who are financial experts. The second essay investigates the cumulative abnormal return to departure of audit committee directors. I find that when an accounting expert leaves the audit committee, the market reaction is significantly negative. These results are consistent with regulators’ concerns related to having directors with audit, accounting and other financial expertise on corporate audit committees. The third essay of my dissertation examines the changes in audit committee composition in the last decade. I find that while the increase in audit committee size is relatively modest, there has been a significant increase in the number of audit committee experts and the frequency of audit committee meetings over the past decade; interestingly, such increase in the number of meetings has persisted even after the media focus on the auditing profession, in the immediate aftermath of the Enron and Andersen failures, have waned. My results show that audit committee composition and its role continues to evolve with regulatory and other corporate governance related changes.

There is an ongoing trade war between the two largest economies in the world. Since the trade war is still ongoing, few studies have been done to investigate how it affects the global economy. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the trade war’s effect on the Swedish stock market between the 2nd of March 2018 when U.S. president Donald Trump first threatened to impose tariffs on Chinese imports to the 15th of January 2020 when the phase one deal was signed. Data is collected from Donald Trump’s official twitter account and by statements from the U.S. and Chinese governments. An event study is then made by using the market model to find abnormal returns for different sectors and stocks on OMXS large cap. The study shows that the sectors react differently to the announcements. Some sectors were not affected at all and others were heavily affected. Telecommunication is a sector that had an average cumulative abnormal return close to zero both when there was positive news and negative news about the trade war. Contrarily, a sector that seems to be highly correlated to the news about the trade war is the Technology sector. Basic Resources is the most affected sector in the study when bad news occurred. From our study, we can conclude that the Swedish stock market is affected by the trade war.

När covid-19 pandemin bröt ut i Europa tidigt 2020 valde många svenska företag att dra tillbaka sina tidigare föreslagna utdelningar. Hur reagerade investerare på den svenskamarknaden på beskedet om att utdelningarna uteblev? Vi har utfört en eventstudie somundersöker den riskjusterade avkastningen för 31 svenska bolag listade på NASDAQ Stockholm som under våren 2020 återkallade sina tidigare föreslagna utdelningar. Vårtresultat konstaterar en statistisk signifikant genomsnittlig riskjusterad underavkastning isamband med beskedet. Vårt resultat indikerar även att reaktionen var mer negativ för debolag vars pressmeddelande blev offentligt innan regeringens meddelade att bolag som utförutdelningar inte är berättigade permitteringsstöd. Vidare finner vi att bolagens nivå avkassalikviditet har en statistisk signifikant negativ påverkan på den riskjusteradeavkastningen kring eventet.

Titel: SPAC eller IPO, en retailinvesterares möjlighet till abnormal avkastning? Författare: Johan Petersson och William Stignäs Handledare: Öystein Fredriksen Bakgrund och problem: Traditionella börsnoteringar, på engelska Initial Public Offerings (IPO:s), har länge varit ett lukrativt sätt för investmentbanker och professionella aktörer att uppnå en god avkastning. De sistnämnda har möjlighet att teckna aktier till ett förutbestämt pris och har således en fördel gentemot retailinvesterare på den amerikanska marknaden. Ett annat sätt för ett företag att börsnotera sig är genom det på senare år populära fenomenet SPAC. Processen för det alternativa sättet att notera sig är att ett skalbolag noteras på börsen i form av en påse pengar. Skalbolaget har i syfte att förvärva ett onoterat företag som sedan tar den förstnämndas plats på börsen. Detta gör att retailinvesterare kan, till skillnad från IPO:s, i samband med annonseringen av förvärvet köpa aktier. Frågan som uppkommer är då om det finns en möjlighet för retailinvesterare att dra nytta av detta och om fenomenet i sig är något positivt för retailinvesterarna. Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att med utgångspunkt från ett retailinvesterar-perspektiv analysera om det finns abnormal avkastning i SPAC:s och sätta det i jämförelse med traditionella IPO:s på den amerikanska marknaden. Även anledningar till populariseringen av SPAC:s trots den tidigare negativa historiken ska analyseras. Metod: Uppsatsen har ett kvantitativt tillvägagångssätt med en abduktiv ansats i syfte att beräkna den abnormala avkastningen för de två separata sätten att börsnotera sig samt testa ett antal utvalda förklaringsvariabler.   Slutsats: Uppsatsen finner att SPAC:s under studerad tidsperiod har presterat bättre än IPO:s och att SPAC:s ska ses som ett isolerat fenomen och inte jämföras med IPO:s. Anledningen är att det förstnämnda bidrar positivt då det blir ytterligare en möjlighet på aktiemarknaden för en retailinvesterare. / Title: SPAC or IPO, a retail investor's opportunity for abnormal return? Authors: Johan Petersson and William Stignäs Supervisor: Öystein Fredriksen   Background and problem: Traditional IPO:s have long been a lucrative way for investment banks and professional investors to achieve a good return. The latter can subscribe for shares before the listing to a predetermined price and thus have an advantage over retail investors in the US market. Another way for a company to list on the stock exchange is through the popular phenomenon SPAC. The process for the alternative way of listing is for a shell company, a SPAC, to be listed on the stock exchange in the form of a pile of cash. The purpose of the shell company is to acquire a private company which then takes the former's place on the stock exchange. This means that the retail investors can, unlike in the case of an IPO, buy shares in connection with the announcement of the acquisition. The question that then arises is whether there is an opportunity for the retail investors to take advantage of this and whether the phenomenon itself is something positive for retail investors.   Purpose: The purpose of the thesis is to, based on a retail investor perspective, analyze whether there is abnormal return in SPAC:s and compare it with traditional IPO:s in the US market. Reasons for the popularization of the phenomenon despite the previous negative history will also be analyzed.   Methodology: The thesis has a quantitative and abductive approach. The methodology used is a calculation of abnormal return for the two separate ways of listing on the stock exchange and then test a few selected explanatory variables.   Conclusion: The thesis finds that SPAC:s during the studied period have performed better than IPO:s and that SPACs should be seen as an isolated phenomenon and not compared with IPO:s. The reason is that the former contributes positively as it becomes an additional opportunity on the stock market for a retail investor.