Medias bild av incitamentsprogram - har publicerade artiklar en påverkan på aktiemarknaden?

Sammanfattning: This study examines how the stock prices are affected when articles, which negatively describe the companies’ incentive programs, are published. According to the efficient market hypothesis, only new information should have an effect on the stock price. Furthermore, this study aims to examine whether this reaction is dependent of the economic climate. During the period of September 2005 to September 2009, stock price data was collected from the NasdaqOMX stock exchange and 75 articles were gathered from leading Swedish newspapers. The results indicate that the market reacts negatively on the day of publication, which is consistent for both periods, the boom and the recession. The effect on the stock market was only temporary. The articles did not provide a long-time effect.