Informational role of ownership concentration: evidence from the Casablanca stock exchange

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical evidence on the informational role played by ownership concentration.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use bivariate vector autoregressive models to document the informational role of ownership concentration.

Findings

The findings suggest that the returns of firms with concentrated ownership structure lead the returns of firms with dispersed ownership structure in Morocco during the period between 2004 and 2014. The authors argue that this lead-lag relationship arises because a better information environment in firms with concentrated ownership structure enables quick incorporation of relevant information. The results are robust under different information regimes.

Originality/value

The authors believe that this paper is one of the first evidence on the informational role of ownership concentration in Morocco.

Citation

Farooq, O. and Aktaruzzaman, K. (2019), "Informational role of ownership concentration: evidence from the Casablanca stock exchange", Journal of Islamic Accounting and Business Research, Vol. 10 No. 5, pp. 726-735. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIABR-11-2016-0141