IWH Subsidy Database
IWH Subsidy Databse The microdatabase currently comprises nine data sets on direct business subsidy programmes in Germany. The programme statistics kept by the project sponsors…
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From Rivals to Allies? CEO Connections in an Era of Common Ownership
Dennis Hutschenreiter, Qianshuo Liu
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 7,
2025
Abstract
Institutional common ownership of firm pairs in the same industry increases the likelihood of a preexisting social connection among their CEOs. We establish this relationship using a quasi-natural experiment that exploits institutional mergers combined with firms’ hiring events and detailed information on CEO biographies. In addition, for peer firms, gaining a CEO connection from a hiring firm’s CEO appointment correlates with higher returns on assets, stock market returns, and decreasing product similarity between companies. We find evidence consistent with common owners allocating CEO connections to shape managerial decisionmaking and increase portfolio firms’ performance.
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IWH Flash Indicator
IWH Flash Indicator The IWH Flash Indicator is a forecasting tool which provides early information on economic development. While the German Federal Statistical Office publishes…
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Social Connections and Information Leakage: Evidence from Target Stock Price Run-up in Takeovers
Iftekhar Hasan, Lin Tong, An Yan
Journal of Financial Research,
Vol. 48 (2),
2025
Abstract
Does information leakage in a target's social networks increase its stock price prior to a merger announcement? Evidence reveals that a target with more social connections indeed experiences a higher pre-announcement price run-up. This effect does not exist during or after the merger announcement, or in windows ending two months before the announcement. It is more pronounced among targets with severe asymmetric information, and weaker when the information about the upcoming merger is publicly available prior to the announcement. It is also weaker in expedited deals such as tender offers.
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Alumni
IWH Alumni The IWH maintains contact with its former employees worldwide. We involve our alumni in our work and keep them informed, for example, with a newsletter. We also plan…
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Board Announcements
Board Announcements Apr 27, 2026: Evaluation Report Nov 06, 2025: Evaluation 2025: feedback Nov 03, 2025: Evaluation 2025: important information Oct 02, 2025: Second Trial…
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IWH-CompNet 5th FINPRO
IWH-CompNet 5th Finance and Productivity Conference 24-25 April, 2026 - Tokyo, Japan The IWH-CompNet 5th Finance and Productivity Conference (FINPRO5), held on 24–25 April 2026 at…
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10th Vintage
The CompNet 10th Vintage Dataset 10th Vintage dataset is now available! The CompNet dataset provides a comprehensive set of micro-aggregated indicators, specifically designed to…
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Research Clusters
Three Research Clusters Each IWH research group is assigned to a topic-oriented research cluster. The clusters are not separate organisational units, but rather bundle the…
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Forthcoming
Forthcoming CompNet Events 15th Annual IWH-CompNet Conference October 22-23, 2026 European Commission, Brussels, Belgium The 15th Annual IWH-CompNet Conference, jointly organised…
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