Announcing a layoff decision could trigger either an increase or decrease in firm value, depending upon whether adverse market conditions or efficiency improvement are motivating it. Layoff announcements often contain information that indicates the motivation. This article finds that the layoff...

We examine long-run stock returns and operating performance around firms' offerings of common stock, convertible debt, and straight debt from 1985 to 1990. We find that pre-issue abnormal returns are positive and significant for stock issuers, but not for convertible and straight debt issuers....