Title
Detecting Earnings Information in Repurchase Announcements using the Luck of the (Double) Irish
Date of Award
January 2015
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Management
First Advisor
Mara Faccio
Committee Member 1
Huseyin Gulen
Committee Member 2
Byoung Hwang
Committee Member 3
John McConnell
Abstract
Previous studies disagree about whether open market repurchase announcements contain information about earnings expectations. Using a regulation that made tax haven-using firms’ repurchases more costly as a quasi-natural experiment, I find positive post-repurchase-announcement revisions in earnings expectations for firms using “Double Irish” offshore tax avoidance structures. These results are robust to falsification tests, different types of tax havens, and changes in forecasted and actual earnings. “Double Irish” firms announce fewer repurchase programs than other firms after the regulation, consistent with an increase in their repurchasing costs. These results suggest that certain costly repurchases are announced when outsiders underestimate future earnings.
Recommended Citation
O'Brien, William, "Detecting Earnings Information in Repurchase Announcements using the Luck of the (Double) Irish" (2015). Open Access Dissertations. 1137.
https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_dissertations/1137