Firm Size, Price to Book, and Government Ownership Effects: Evidence from Stock Markets in Vietnam

Abstract

Both firm size and price to book ratio (P/B) have significant effects on return in the markets of Vietnam. Firm size has more power than betas in explaining variations of returns. The role of betas in explaining return improves with the inclusion of firm size. In the models including firm size, P/B is insignificant. As firm size is excluded from the models, P/B becomes a significant factor to determine returns. State owned enterprises (SOEs) are firms in which government holds at least 50% of shares outstanding. There is no evidence that additional return is compensated for political risk in SOEs.