国际区别在权益资本费用：法律机关是否和证券章程事关？(pdf 43)

Abstract
This paper examines international differences in firms’ cost of equity capital across 40 countries.
We analyze whether the effectiveness of a country’s legal institutions and securities regulation is
systematically related to cross-country differences in the cost of equity capital. We employ four
different models using analyst forecasts to estimate firms’ implied cost of capital. We find that
countries with extensive securities regulation and strong enforcement mechanisms exhibit lower
levels of cost of capital than countries with weak legal institutions, even after controlling for
various risk and country factors. The effects are strongest for institutions providing information
to investors and enabling them to privately enforce their contracts. We also show that, consistent
with theory, these effects become substantially smaller or insignificant as capital markets
become more integrated.
JEL classification: G14, G15, G38, G30, K22, M41
Key Words: International finance, Cost of equity, Disclosure, Legal system, Law and finance
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