The Impacts of Overinvestment and Financial Constraints on Seasoned Equity Offering Long-Run Performance

Abstract

This study considers overinvestment and financial constraints as factors that associate with managerial incentives of firms conducting seasoned equity offerings (SEOs). The results show that pre-issue overinvestment and financial slack are negatively related to the long-run performance of SEO firms. It implies that SEOs of firms with these two characteristics are driven by managerial incentive misalignment, resulting in their lackluster long-run performance after SEOs. In other words, overinvesting and financially unconstrained firms may conduct SEOs due to managers' empire-building desires. These results should remind the board of directors to prevent managers' equity financing from serious overinvestment and that long-run investors should avoid buying new-issue shares of firms with overinvestment and financial slack.Keywords:   Seasoned Equity Offerings (SEOs); Overinvestment; Financial Constraints; Managerial IncentivesJEL Classifications: G30, G32