| Abstract: | 雖然財務領域上有關估公司治理的文獻相當豐富，然而有關不動產投資信託部分此議題直到最近才漸漸受到重視。本計畫嘗試利用三年的時間，探討三個有關不動產投資信託公司治理相關議題，藉此瞭解一般公司治理的模型，是否因不同組織上的差異而有所不同，並探究其差異來源。 本計畫第一年重點，在於不動產投資信託初次上市上櫃後，閉鎖期打開之效應，與股權結構的關係。閉鎖期條款的設立乃是公開資訊，其閉瑣股數與期間長短記載於公開說明書中，因此，此預期中的事件應對效率市場中投資人的投資行為，不會有任何影響，也就是說在閉鎖期結束之日，應不會產生任何異常報酬的機會。然而實證發現卻不然。Bradley, Jordon and Yi (2001) 曾檢驗2539家公司，結論認為有無創投參與公司的上市櫃，是閉鎖期結束股價波動的主因。過去文獻對一般產業的閉鎖期有相當多的討論，也認為創投的參與攸關異常報酬，然而，對不動產投資信託在這方面的研究，卻相當缺乏，也無從瞭解不動產市場閉鎖期所造成的效應是否如出一轍，或者是否異於一般產業。本研究將探討不動產投資信託公司理財議題中的閉鎖期效應與股權結構，這些議題過去為文獻所忽略，然而卻益形重要，相信本計畫結果將增強學術對不動產市場的瞭解，也對公司理財議題有所貢獻。 本計畫第二年將探討不動產投資信託公司治理與股權結構的演變。Hermalin (2005)的理論模型指出，較嚴謹的董事會，一般傾向僱用外部經理人，平均而言公司經理人的聘期近來將有縮短趨勢，然而經理人的平均薪資卻將增加。目前這種種的預測僅止於理論模型的探討，尚未得到實證上的支持，因此實際上公司運作是否如其預測，將是相當有趣的議題。另外，不動產投資信託因法規造成的股權分散程度高於一般公司，其自由現金流量所造成的代理問題也不同，因此本文將針對該種種預測，以不動產投資信託為分析對象，探討此理論的一般性與特例所在。 本計畫第三年將著重於分析股權結構與資本結構的互相影響程度。過去對資本結構的研究在於代理問題、訊息理論、或是稅賦問題，然而最近的研究發現股權結構是影響資本結構的因素之一。Jan (2005)發現股權結構與資本結構密不可分。本文將探討對不用繳交公司稅，而且股權相當分散的不動產投資信託，其資本結構是否會如一般公司一樣，受到經理人的操作，或者是根本沒有控制的空間 本計畫將對不動產投資信託公司治理議題有一系列的研究，其結果對財務理論與不動產投資信託的研究，已將有進一步的貢獻。
Corporate governance issue about Real Estate Investment Trusts has not received attentions until recently. We intend to examine three corporate governance topics in this project. In the first year, the research focus will be on REIT IPO lockup expiration and ownership structure. The main issue of the second year will be on the trend of corporate governance of REITs; and the interaction between ownership structure and capital structure of REITs will be the issue for the third year. In the first year, I will investigate the REIT IPO lockup expiration issue. Most initial public offerings (IPOs) include a lockup agreement to prohibit insiders from selling their holdings for a specified period. While the norm seems to be 180 days, lockup period is varying based upon the agreement between insiders and underwriters. A lockup agreement ensures the market that insiders are not aimed at cashing out immediately after the IPOs. Therefore, it aligns the interests of insiders and outside investors. Previous studies on IPO lockup expiration focus on industrial IPOs and exclude Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). In this study, we fill the gap by examining a sample of REIT IPOs from 1992 to 1998. REITs are not backed by venture capitalists. If abnormal returns is mainly caused by aggressive sales by venture capitalists, as reported for industrial IPOs, we should expect a relative stable price movement around the unlock date for REIT IPOs. On the contrary, a finding of abnormal returns around the unlock date for REIT IPOs implies other factors, rather than aggressive sales of venture capitalists, affect the market response. An investigation on the causes of abnormal pricing behavior for REIT IPOs around the unlock date would enhance our understanding of market behavior In the second year, I will examine the trends in REIT corporate governance and ownership structure. Hermalin (2005) derives a theoretical model which predicts the trend in corporate governance. Because REITs are highly regulated industry, we expect that some of those predictions may not be applied. For example, restrictions on source of income and asset structure result in widely dispersed stock ownership. However, the 1992 5/50 rule reform changes the ownership concentration, which makes the corporate governance different from before. Therefore, the corporate governance of REITs must have changed since then. The result of this study will provide further evidence on the motivation and the evolution of corporate governance in REITs. In the third year, I will investigate the interaction between ownership structure and capital structure. Whether there is an optimal capital structure within the firm is controversial. Previous literature have tried to explain the capital structure by tax problem, agency cost, and signaling issues. However, more recently, several studies have documented the relationship between capital structure and ownership structure. Raman (2005) finds an inverse relation between managerial stock ownership and corporate debt maturity. Jan (2005) predict that capital structure should be closely related to ownership structure. Those findings provide different perspectives about capital structure and add a new dimension to the recently growing body of literature on ownership structure. The purpose of this study is to examine the interaction between REITs』 capital structure and ownership structure under the inherent restrictions put by IRS on REITs. We are interested in how those regulations affect the ownership structure and capital structure. Overall, the result of these studies will enrich our understanding of the corporate governance issue of REITs and make contributions to the real estate finance literature. |
