The Competitors’ Response to a Bankruptcy Filing Announcement Made by a Stock-Listed Company Depending on Sector Characteristics

Abstract

The main aim of the article is to determine how the bankruptcy filing announcement of a stock-listed company affects the market valuation of its competitors, depending on the sector characteristic. An event study was conducted on the example of returns to shares of companies comprised in the WIG index and operating in 9 sectors. It is indicated that the bankruptcy filing announcement is quickly (within one day) incorporated into the share prices of competitors of the announcing firm. It is confirmed that the direction of market reaction toward share prices of competitors is differentiated by the characteristics of the sector. Averaged results show that the competitive effect occurs in the sectors with a high level of concentration, while the contagion effect is noted in sectors with low concentration. Companies from sectors characterized by low leverage experience the competitive effect. No information transfer was found for a group of companies in sectors characterized by high leverage.