The Effects of Financial Disclosure Levels on Firms' Choices among Alternative Foreign Stock Exchange Listings

Abstract

Firms are increasingly adopting a global perspective. Nowhere is this more evident than in the accelerating internationalization of the world’s financial capital markets. In just five years the dollar volume of debt and equity securities placed annually by firms outside of their national borders has increased by 900%. ’ In the US, primary offerings of foreign debt and equity have averaged over $5 billion per year since 1975.2 Between 1974 and 1984, the dollar volume of foreign stocks traded in secondary markets in the US rose 839% (from $3.6 billion to $30.2 billion) while secondary market transactions by foreign investors in US stocks increased by more than 843% (from $14.7 ..