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Review of Finance Vol. 12 No. 4 2008

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

Elias Henrikki Rantapuska1; Samuli Knüpfer2

1 Helsinki School of Economics 1 · 2 Helsinki School of Economics 2

open access

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.

DOI
10.1093/rof/rfn018
Volume
12
Issue
4
Pages
701-733
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

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