This dissertation examines how the stock market reacts to announcements of introduction of co-branded new products. Despite the apparent enthusiasm of practitioners towards co-branding--the practice of using two established brand names on the same product--, there is a dearth of research on if and how co-branding can be effectively leveraged to significantly increase the value added of new products. Whether greater financial rewards accrue to the manufacturer of the co-branded product (i.e. the primary brand parent) or to the partner firm that lends its brand to the co-branded product (i.e. the secondary brand parent), and how these rewards may differ depending on the characteristics of the co-branded product itself are yet unanswered questions. Using data from the consumer packaged goods industry, I empirically examine the extent to which co-branding increases the market value of the parent firms and analyze the determinants of the magnitude of increase in market value for both firms involved in the co-branding alliance. I present empirical evidence in support of a positive stock market reaction to the introduction of co-branded new products and find that this reaction is greater, on average, than the market reaction to the introduction of single-branded new products. I also show that the consistency between the brand images of the two products, the innovativeness of the product, and the exclusivity of the co-branding relationship significantly impact the market?s reaction to the announcement of new co-branded products. Moreover, these effects manifest both in the short term (i.e., at the time of the announcement) and over a longer time window (i.e., during the year following the announcement). Furthermore, I find that not all types of co-branding partnerships are equal. Composite co-branding (where both brands bring a substantive contribution to the formulation of the new product) results in higher financial rewards to the partners compared to ingredient and endorsement partnerships. The findings provide important managerial guidelines for increasing firm value through co-branding partnerships.

In a crisis managers are confronted with a dilemma between an ethical responsibility to respond to victims and their fiduciary responsibility to protect shareholder’s wealth. This study provides empirical evidence that a company apology made during a crisis can have a positive or negative effect on stock price depending on the level of responsibility for a crisis born by the firm. We use Coombs’ (2007) Situational Crisis Communication Theory to classify crises and appropriate re-sponse type for 235 unique crises between 1983 and 2013. We use event study methodology to study the effect of an apology on returns. The results show that managers apologizing to those affected for a victim or accidental crisis jeopardize shareholder wealth; however offering an apology for a preventable crisis offsets this negative effect.

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This study examines how the stock market reacts when a publicly-listed company announces a corporate green bond issuance in the European market. We examine 155 corporate green bond issuance announcements from 2017 to 2021 made by companies listed on the European stock exchange. Our findings can not confirm a stock market reaction to the announcement of a corporate green bond. The result shows no significant positive stock market reaction when a company announces a corporate green bond issuance for the first time. This finding suggests that the signaling argument is not necessarily applicable, as it suggests that companies signal their environmental commitment to the investors by announcing a corporate green bond issuance. Our findings do neither show a stronger stock market reaction due to a company having a low environmental performance at the time of announcement. This means that companies that actively try to transition into climate-friendly financing are not rewarded by the stock market.

Green bonds have rapidly increased in popularity over the past years, and are often seen as afacilitator in achieving the Paris Agreement of limiting global warming to 2°C. The Swedishreal estate sector is one of the most frequent issuers in the Swedish green bond market, as itstands for 49% of the total volume outstanding. Previous research has shown a positive linkbetween issuing green bonds and stock market performance, where stock turnover increasesin relation to the green bond announcement. Researchers argue that it can be explained by thesignaling theory, where issuing green bonds sends a signal to the market that the company iscommitted to the environment. This thesis aims to examine the effects on Swedish real estatecompanies following a green bond issuance. The research method was divided into two partsto capture the short and long term perspective. Firstly, an event-study method was conductedto compute the short term cumulative abnormal returns (CAR) on the issuing companies’stock price, and the cumulative average abnormal returns (CAAR) for the full sample.Secondly, an interview study was conducted to capture the long term effects of the issuingcompany. The results of the event study indicate no statistically significant evidence ofincreased stock price following the green bond announcement. In fact, a slightly negativeimpact is observed in the days following the announcement. This may be due to green bondissuance being perceived as an expected norm in today’s market. The results of the interviewstudy reveal that issuing green bonds can enhance company branding and attract increasedinvestor attention. These findings in our sample support the signaling theory, as itdemonstrates how it signals the company's sustainability strategy and reduces informationasymmetry. Overall, this thesis contributes to the understanding of the effects of green bondissuance on Swedish real estate companies, as it provides valuable insights to involved actors. / Gröna obligationer har ökat kraftigt i popularitet under de senaste åren och ses ofta som enfrämjande faktor för att uppnå Parisavtlalet om att begränsa den globala uppvärmningen till2°C. Den svenska fastighetssektorn är en av de mest frekventa emittenterna på den svenskagröna obligationsmarknaden, då den står för 49% av den totala utestående volymen. Tidigareforskning har visat på ett positivt samband mellan att emittera gröna obligationer ochaktiepriset, där priset på aktien ökar i samband med annonseringen av en grön obligation.Forskarna argumenterar för att det kan förklaras av signaleringsteorin, där utförandet avgröna obligationer skickar en signal till marknaden om att företaget är engagerad i miljön.Detta examensarbete syftar till att undersöka effekterna på svenska fastighetsbolag efter att deemitterat gröna obligationer. Metoden för arbetet har delats upp i två delar för att fånga detkorta och det långa perspektivet. I den första delen genomfördes en event-studie för attberäkna den kortsiktiga kumulativa onormala avkastningen (CAR) på de emitterandebolagens aktiekurs, samt den genomsnittliga kumulativa onormala avkastningen (CAAR) förhela urvalet. I den andra delen genomfördes en intervjustudie för att fånga de långsiktigaeffekterna för det emitterande bolaget. Resultaten från eventstudien indikerar inga statistisktsignifikanta bevis på ett ökat pris på aktien efter annonseringen av en grön obligation.Faktum är att en något negativ påverkan kan observeras under dagarna efter annonseringen.Detta kan bero på att emittering av gröna obligationer uppfattas som en förväntad norm pådagens marknad. Resultaten av intervjustudien visar att emittering av gröna obligationer kanförbättra företagets varumärke och locka till sig en ökad uppmärksamhet från investerare.Dessa resultat i våra observationer stöder signaleringsteorin genom att visa hur signalering avföretagets hållbarhetsstrategi kan minska informationsasymmetri. Sammanfattningsvis bidrarexamensarbetet till förståelsen av effekterna för svenska fastighetsbolag av att emittera grönaobligationer, eftersom det ger en värdefull inblick till de inblandade aktörerna.