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The Sun Is Rising In The East: Dual-Class Shares And The Competitive Landscape Of Technological Industries In Asia, Hao Liang, Tran Bao Phuong Nguyen, Wei Zhang Oct 2022

The Sun Is Rising In The East: Dual-Class Shares And The Competitive Landscape Of Technological Industries In Asia, Hao Liang, Tran Bao Phuong Nguyen, Wei Zhang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

There has recently been a relaxation of listing regulations to accommodate and attract firms going public with dual-class shares (DCS), notably in Asia. We examine the value implications of DCS adoption by employing an event study around a regulatory change allowing DCS listings in Hong Kong. We find negative market reactions around these regulatory discussions for firms already listed in Hong Kong, especially for firms in technology (tech) sectors. However, the market reaction turned positive for tech firms during Hong Kong’s first DCS listing. We identify two distinct channels that influenced shareholders’ perspectives on DCS: the competition channel, which dominated …


Riding Off Into The Sunset: Dual-Class Structure In The Age Of Unicorns Going Public, Hao Liang, Junho Park, Wei Zhang Oct 2022

Riding Off Into The Sunset: Dual-Class Structure In The Age Of Unicorns Going Public, Hao Liang, Junho Park, Wei Zhang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The increasing adoption of dual-class shares (DCS)—an ownership structure that gives corporate insiders greater voting power than other shareholders—among newly listed companies has raisedsignificant governance concerns. We investigate the decision to adopt the DCS structure and itsvalue implications in the recent U.S. IPOs. Using founder cultural traits and Silicon Valley lawfirms as instrumental variables, we find significant post-IPO outperformance by firms adopting DCSwith a sunset clause, especially incapacity-based sunset which stipulates that the DCS will ceaseafter founders’ death, incapacitation or departure, compared to non-DCS firms and DCS firms without sunsets. This outperformance is more pronounced for high-tech firms, after Google’s …