Bank Equity Investments: Reducing Agency Costs or Buying Undervalued Firms? The Information Effects
分析银行收购公司股票的两种动机：降低贷款关系中的代理成本，或参与被低估公司的预期利润。研究发现市场会利用银行的贷款决策来推断其动机。
Abstract: This paper analyses the relevance of two different reasons for banks to acquire firms’ stock: the increase of agency costs in the lending relationship (the agency costs hypothesis), and participation in the expected profits of undervalued firms (the information asymmetry hypothesis). Results indicate not only that banks make equity investments for both reasons but also that the market exploits their lending decisions to learn which of the two motivations was in play. Bank equity investments concurrent with reductions in bank debt are consistent with the agency costs hypothesis, whereas bank equity investments concurrent with increases in bank debt are consistent with the information asymmetry hypothesis.