A rich literature argues that stock repurchases often serve as positive economic signals beneficial to investors. Yet due to their inherent flexibility, open market repurchase programs have long been criticized as weak signals lacking commitment. We evaluate whether some managers potentially use...

We examine long-run firm performance following open market share repurchase announcements which occurred during the period 1980 to 1990. We find that the average abnormal four-year buy-and-hold return measured after the initial announcement is 12.1 percent. For `value' stocks, companies more...