Abstract
Numerous empirical studies have suggested that the economic performance of international joint ventures (IJVs) is modest, at best. This suggestion may be inaccurate, however, since the studies' findings are based on ex post managerial perceptions of IJV performance that are found to be biased. Stated differently, there is a need to investigate IJV performance from ex ante “external* perspective—that of capital markets. Consequently, this study investigates the extent to which IJVformation announcements increase the shareholder value pf participating firms. Despite the merits of engaging a capital markets' perspective, it is necessary to investigate the extent to which capital markets are informationally ‘efflcient’- particularly given persistent doubts about whether capital markets really are as efficient as is widely accepted. Hence, this study compares IJV&' expected performance with their actual performance that is reported in other empirical studies. This study engages the event-study methodology to examine the impact of IJV formation announcements on the shareholder value of IJV parents, and tries to circumvent the methodology's principal limitations in doing so. Based on a sample of more than 500 IJVs, the study's findings indicate participation in IJVs increases parents' shareholder value by an average of approximately one per cent, albeit this figure varies across industry sectors (manufacturing; non-manufacturing) and firm size (large; small). Shareholder value is created for about 50 per cent Of firms in the sample. Moreover, the study's findings suggest that capital markets are informationally efficient