Which Investors Leave Money on the Table? Evidence from Rights Issues

41 Pages Posted: 2 Oct 2008

See all articles by Elias Henrikki Rantapuska

Elias Henrikki Rantapuska

Aalto University

Samuli Knüpfer

Aalto University School of Business; BI Norwegian Business School; Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)

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Date Written: May 25, 2008

Abstract

This study documents patterns of investor behavior around Finnish rights issues. We find that shareholders of issuing companies lost at least €9.9 million in aggregate from 1995 to 2002 by exercising rights too early, selling rights in the open market below their intrinsic value, or leaving rights unexercised. At the investor level, the losses are modest. For example, the median household investor suffered a loss of €135 from not exercising or selling the rights. Investors with small portfolios, inactive trading history, those who know neither of the official languages in Finland, or who are living abroad leave money on the table the most.

Keywords: Rights issue, investor behavior, investment mistake, warrant

JEL Classification: G32, D01

Suggested Citation

Rantapuska, Elias Henrikki and Knüpfer, Samuli, Which Investors Leave Money on the Table? Evidence from Rights Issues (May 25, 2008). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1276324 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1276324

Elias Henrikki Rantapuska

Aalto University ( email )

P.O. Box 21210
Helsinki, 00101
Finland

Samuli Knüpfer (Contact Author)

Aalto University School of Business

P.O. Box 21210
AALTO, 00076
Finland

HOME PAGE: http://www.samuliknupfer.com

BI Norwegian Business School ( email )

Nydalsveien 37
Oslo, 0442
Norway

Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)

Box 55665
Grevgatan 34, 2nd floor
Stockholm, SE-102 15
Sweden

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