發行海外存託憑證可以放寬融資限制嗎？——台灣之實證分析

Does Issue of Oversea Depositary Receipt Reduce Financial Constraints?-Evidence from Taiwan

本文以1992年至2009年間首次發行海外存託憑證的台灣上市公司為樣本，使用「追蹤資料」及「橫斷面固定效應模型」，探討發行海外存託憑證對融資限制的影響，並比較發行海外存託憑證與在國內進行現金增資的融資限制放寬效果。另外，本文也分析存託憑證是否完全使用舊股發行及發行時點對融資限制的影響。本文發現發行海外存託憑證具有融資限制放寬效果，而在國內進行現金增資則無；發行存託憑證的融資限制放寬效果與發行公司是否從中取得融資無關；發行存託憑證的融資限制放寬效果可能是來自在海外掛牌使發行公司的聲譽與能見度提高，進而使其比較容易取得外部融資；即使台灣資本市場的開放程度與對公司治理的規範已經大幅提高，但是台灣上市公司仍然可以藉由發行存託憑證提高聲譽及投資人認同，使融資限制降低。

This paper investigates if firms can ease their financial constraints by issuing oversea depositary receipts, using as sample Taiwan's listed companies that issued DRs for the first time from 1992 through 2009. Panel data and cross-section fixed-effects model are employed for empirical analysis. The effect of DR issue in easing financial constraints is compared with that of the seasoned public offerings in Taiwan's equity market. We also investigate if the effect depends on the capital influx from DR issue and the timing of DR issue. We find that Taiwan's listed companies can reduce their financial constraints by issuing DRs, but they cannot do so by undertaking the seasoned public offerings in the domestic equity market. Moreover, the effect is not caused by the capital influx from DR issue. We demonstrate that its effect is most likely driven by the prestige and visibility gain from cross-border listing, which gives the DR issuers greater and easier access to capital markets. Finally, our results suggest that Taiwan's listed companies can still garner prestige and investor recognition by issuing DRs and reduce their financial constraints as a result, despite Taiwan has liberalized its financial markets and improved its corporate governance practices substantially.