Interpreting Equivocal Signals: Market Reaction to Specific-Purpose Poison Pill Adoption
研究了投资者如何解读公司采纳毒丸计划这一模棱两可的信号，发现市场对保护净经营亏损的毒丸反应负面，而对应对收购要约的毒丸反应正面，且公司治理特征和行业环境会影响这种反应。
Signaling theory suggests that firms send signals to stakeholders to reduce information asymmetry. Research, however, has rarely examined how investors interpret signals that are equivocal. We suggest that sensemaking serves as an important process by which investors interpret firm signals, and salient contextual cues influence the sensemaking process. We examine an equivocal signal, the adoption of a poison pill, as a means of examining investor interpretation of the signal and the role of contextual cues in influencing interpretation. Using a sample of 578 poison pill adoptions and controlling for self-selection, we find that investors react negatively to poison pills adopted to protect net operating losses (NOL poison pills) but positively to poison pills adopted when the firm is in receipt of a takeover offer (in-play poison pills). Assessing the role of contextual cues, our results suggest that CEO duality, the proportion of inside directors on the firm’s board, the firm’s R&D investments, and industry concentration also condition investor response to specific-purpose poison pill adoption. Our study contributes to research on signaling theory, sensemaking, and corporate governance by examining how investors interpret a firm’s equivocal governance decisions.