Event Studies and the Law: Part I: Technique and Corporate Litigation

Posted: 29 Feb 2008

See all articles by Sanjai Bhagat

Sanjai Bhagat

University of Colorado at Boulder - Department of Finance

Roberta Romano

Yale Law School; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

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Abstract

Event studies are among the most successful uses of econometrics in policy analysis. By providing an anchor for measuring the impact of events on investor wealth, the methodology offers a fruitful means for evaluating the welfare implications of private and government actions. This article is the first in a set of two that review the use and impact of the event study methodology in the legal domain. This article begins by briefly reviewing the event study methodology and its strengths and limitations for policy analysis. It then reviews in detail how event studies have been used to evaluate the wealth effects of corporate litigation: defendants experience economically meaningful and statistically significant wealth losses upon the filing of the suit, whereas plaintiff firms experience no significant wealth effects upon filing a lawsuit. Also, there is a significant wealth increase for defendant firms when they settle a suit with another firm, in contrast to other types of plaintiffs, and in contrast to the settling plaintiff firms. These findings suggest that, at a minimum, lawsuits are not a value-enhancing way for corporations to settle their disagreements with other corporations. In addition, the market appears to impose a higher sanction on firms than actual criminal sanctions, and reputational losses are of equal magnitude for civil fines as for criminal ones. The article concludes with some recommendations for researchers: the standards for conducting an event study are well established; researchers can increase the power of an event study by increasing the sample size, and by narrowing the public announcement period to as short a time frame as possible. The companion article reviews the use of event studies in corporate law and regulation.

Suggested Citation

Bhagat, Sanjai and Romano, Roberta, Event Studies and the Law: Part I: Technique and Corporate Litigation. American Law and Economics Review, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 141-168, 2002, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=874198

Sanjai Bhagat (Contact Author)

University of Colorado at Boulder - Department of Finance ( email )

Campus Box 419
Boulder, CO 80309
United States
303-492-7821 (Phone)

Roberta Romano

Yale Law School ( email )

P.O. Box 208215
New Haven, CT 06520-8215
United States
203-432-4965 (Phone)
203-432-4871 (Fax)

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

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Belgium

HOME PAGE: http://www.ecgi.org

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