摘要：This paper examines the abnormal returns
associated with German firms and with American MNCs with a presence in Germany
in response to the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989. German firms
exhibit a positive abnormal return of 2.69 percent in the week immediately
following the event and negative abnormal returns of 0.67 percent in the year
following the event, indicating an initial overestimation of their ability to
profit from newly arising opportunities. Applying an SUR methodology, American
firms with a presence in Germany exhibit negative abnormal returns of 0.52
percent on the event day. These abnormal returns are inversely related to firm
size, and are not attributable to increases in either systematic or bankruptcy
risk. I hypothesize that negative abnormal returns of American MNCs operating in
Germany are attributable to a potential competitive disadvantage of American
versus German firms resulting from information asymmetries or a “first-mover”
advantage.
