Stock market response to food safety regulations

Abstract

Event studies (ESs) can be applied to evaluate the impact of new regulations on the value of listed firms. However, regulatory changes are preceded by consultation processes and anticipations to the shareholders, which make it difficult to determine the exact timing of stock price response and limit the potential of the analysis. We adopt a methodological extension to the ES approach which enables the detection of significant response under date uncertainty. The application measures the impact of European Commission Regulation 1881/2006 and the English Contaminants in Food Regulation 2007 on 30 food securities listed in the London Stock Exchange.