B2B eMarketplaceAnnouncements and Shareholder WealthThe advent of the Internet as an instrument for business commerce has fundamentally altered the economy by ushering in increased efficiencies and more transparent Since businesses started conducting Internet transactions in 1995,the growth has been Forrester Research estimates that worldwide electronic commerce(e-commerce)revenues were about$650 billion in 2000 and projects they will grow to$8 trillion by The greatest impact is in the businessto-business(B2B)sector,where new supply chain models within electronic marketplaces (eMarketplaces)enable companies to significantly lower procurement costs and increase operating B2B eMarketplaces streamline the supply chain by making better use of more The time it takes to match buyers and sellers can be radically reduced,precautionary inventory levels can be lowered,and the range of potential suppliers and distribution outlets can be expanded as geographic boundaries Projections of online B2B revenues differ vastly,primarily because defining what counts and how to count it varies But despite these differences,forecasters agree that online B2B trade will grow B2B e-commerce is generally believed to account for about 80 to 90 percent of total e-commerce Forecasts typically project USline B2B revenues of about$2 trillion by 2003,up from roughly$336 billion in B2B e-commerce is expected to impact the USy Brookes and Wahhaj(2000)argue that the rapid growth of B2B e-commerce will have an economic impact over and above that of the normal process of innovation and productivity They suggest that as a result of B2B e-commerce,annual GDP growth in the large industrialized countries should rise an average 25 percent for the next ten years—with the level of GDP eventually 5 percent higher than it would otherwise have Brookes and Wahhaj conclude that the dominant long-run effect of B2B e-commerce will be on output and equity markets,rather than on inflation and bond 全文内容省略Investors should respond favorably to announcements of new B2B e-commerce initiatives,as long as they believe these moves will ultimately result in higher profits and increased productivity without fueling We examine the potential impact of B2B e-commerce initiatives on the New Economy paradigm using the efficient markets hypothesis(Fama et 1969),which implies stock prices reflect all available information about individual companies and about the economy as a Information is the key So in efficient capital markets,prices will immediately adjust to reflect any new Thus,B2B e-commerce announcements should immediately raise stock prices if investors believe a firm’s value will be increased by higher net future cash flows resulting from higher productivity,lower costs, or higher