Using a sample of publicly traded U.S. REITs, we examine the impact of at-the-market (ATM) equity offerings on participating firms’ cost of capital. While ATM programs can improve a firm’s financial flexibility, capital market access, and market timing capabilities, they also may engender agency conflicts and increase the information opacity of the firm’s operations. Consistent with these adverse effects, we document a positive relation between ATM program availability and the implied cost of equity capital. These core findings are most pronounced for firms that are relatively opaque, thus providing further evidence of an information-based channel for the cost of capital effect.

我们使用美国REITs上市交易样本，研究了市场上（ATM）股票发行对参与公司的资本成本的影响。尽管ATM计划可以提高公司的财务灵活性，资本市场准入和市场时机选择能力，但它们也可能引起代理人冲突并增加公司运营的信息不透明性。与这些不利影响一致，我们记录了ATM程序可用性与隐含股本成本之间的正相关关系。这些核心发现对于相对不透明的公司最为明显，因此为资本效应成本的基于信息的渠道提供了进一步的证据。