Karolyi, George Andrew and Liao, Rose C., The Economic Consequences of Investor Relations: A Global Perspective (April 6, 2015). Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2591079

“We offer new evidence on the economic value of investor relations (IR) activity using the results of a 2012 global survey of IR officers and their activities at over 800 firms from 59 countries. More active IR programs, as measured by a firm’s involvement in broker-sponsored conferences, in facilitating one-on-one meetings with institutional investors, through global outreach, and with formal disclosure, media and governance policies, are associated with a statistically significant and economically large 8-12% higher Tobin’s q valuation. The findings are resilient to concerns about potential reverse-causality as we instrument the level of IR activity with firm-level constraints, or of their peers, on IR personnel, salaries, and budget. The channels through which IR activity increases market value is through greater analyst following, improved analyst forecast accuracy, and a reduced cost of capital. More IR activity is also associated with higher institutional and hedge fund ownership, and more equity issuance.”