Domestic liquidity of cross-listed stocks: Evidence from the ADR market

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of cross-listing in the US on domestic liquidity of the cross-listed stocks. We use a sample of firms from 31 developed and emerging economies that cross-listed their shares on major US stock exchanges through an American Depository Receipt (ADR) program between 1998 and 2020. The study finds that domestic liquidity increases significantly following a US cross-listing for both developed and emerging market firms. Our results suggest that for firms in developed markets, domestic trading activity decreases before and during the cross-listing year. However, it increases significantly in the long-term, suggesting evidence of the ‘flow back’ effect. For firms in emerging economies, the anticipatory, impact, intermediate and long-term effects on domestic liquidity are all significantly positive. We also find evidence for the ‘bonding hypothesis’ suggesting that the improvements in domestic liquidity are greater for cross-listed firms from countries with low rule of law, weak investor protection and bad quality of accounting information long-term.