The intra-industry effect of share repurchase deregulation: Evidence from Taiwan

Share repurchases were deregulated in Taiwan in 2000. The regulatory provisions and the government's stated aim of market stabilization provide a setting in which share repurchases are exclusively motivated by undervaluation. This study investigates if deregulation of share repurchases is an effective method of market stabilization by investigating the intra-industry effects of repurchase deregulation in Taiwan. We find that repurchasing firms and their corresponding rivals both experience strong value creation upon the repurchase announcements. The evidence suggests that the intra-industry effect of share repurchases is negatively associated with rivals' firm size, and positively associated with the announcing firm's abnormal return, the size of share repurchases and the similarity of business operation between rivals and repurchasing firms. These findings hold even after taking into account other effects that could influence the valuation of the rival firms.