Publication Type
PhD Dissertation
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
5-2026
Abstract
This dissertation consists of two essays related to information asymmetry, strategic decision-making, and corporate social responsibility (CSR). The first essay examines how decision-makers process multiple information cues in cross-border acquisitions. Building on information economics, I introduce the concept of information cue hierarchy and argue that decision-makers prioritize cues based on their perceived credibility and relevance. Using the context of cross-border acquisitions, I examine how the CSR rating of a target firm and the CSR level in the target’s country-of-origin influence acquisition premiums. I find that the CSR rating of a target firm increases acquisition premiums, whereas the CSR level in the target’s country- of-origin does not. However, congruence between the two strengthens the effect of the firm’s CSR rating. The second essay examines how audiences respond to incongruent signals. Prior signaling research largely argues that signal incongruence creates ambiguity and leads to negative outcomes. I challenge this view by proposing that audiences are active information seekers who engage in additional information search when confronted with incongruent signals. I argue that low-to-moderate levels of incongruence can help audiences resolve ambiguity by seeking and integrating additional information, leading to more favorable firm evaluations, whereas high levels of incongruence limit audiences’ ability to reconcile incongruent signals, leading to valuation deterioration. As a result, I predict that the relationship between signal incongruence and firm valuation is inverted U-shaped. Using a panel of U.S. publicly listed firms from 2002 to 2023, I find support for these predictions.
Keywords
information economics, signaling theory, decision-making, information asymmetry, M&A
Degree Awarded
PhD in Business (S Mgmt & Org)
Discipline
Corporate Finance | Strategic Management Policy
Supervisor(s)
CUYPERS, Ilya Ronald P
First Page
1
Last Page
133
Publisher
Singapore Management University
City or Country
Singapore
Citation
HE, Bei.
Essays on decision-making under information complexity. (2026). 1-133.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/etd_coll/905
Copyright Owner and License
Author
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.