Over the past decade, people and companies have left California for myriad reasons. This paper examines the effect of announcing a headquarters relocation on a firm's stock price. Using traditional event study methodology, I analyze over 400 move announcements from 2004-2024 to find a positive abnormal return in the short run when firms announce that they are moving their headquarters. There is a pronounced impact on stock prices for firms leaving California and moving to Texas.
","abstract_html":"<p>Over the past decade, people and companies have left California for myriad reasons. This paper examines the effect of announcing a headquarters relocation on a firm's stock price. Using traditional event study methodology, I analyze over 400 move announcements from 2004-2024 to find a positive abnormal return in the short run when firms announce that they are moving their headquarters. There is a pronounced impact on stock prices for firms leaving California and moving to Texas.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Hazlett, Marilyn Giselle"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Behavioral and Computational Economics","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["David Porter","Stephen Rassenti"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2025-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:38:43Z","subjects":["financial economics","event study","headquarters","California","corporate structure","Finance","Industrial Organization","Regional Economics"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/behavioral_and_computational_economics_theses/6","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["David Porter","Stephen Rassenti"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Hazlett, Marilyn Giselle"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Behavioral and Computational Economics"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["financial economics","event study","headquarters","California","corporate structure","Finance","Industrial Organization","Regional Economics"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/behavioral_and_computational_economics_theses/6"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Over the past decade, people and companies have left California for myriad reasons. This paper examines the effect of announcing a headquarters relocation on a firm's stock price. Using traditional event study methodology, I analyze over 400 move announcements from 2004-2024 to find a positive abnormal return in the short run when firms announce that they are moving their headquarters. There is a pronounced impact on stock prices for firms leaving California and moving to Texas.
"]},{"key":"dc:source","label":"Dc Source","values":["Hazlett, Marilyn Giselle. \"Leaving California: The Price Impact of Announcing a Headquarters Relocation.\" Master's thesis, Chapman University, 2025. https://doi.org/10.36837/chapman.000677"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Leaving California: The Price Impact of Announcing a Headquarters Relocation"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["David Porter","Stephen Rassenti"],"dc:creator":["Hazlett, Marilyn Giselle"],"dc:description.abstract":["Over the past decade, people and companies have left California for myriad reasons. This paper examines the effect of announcing a headquarters relocation on a firm's stock price. Using traditional event study methodology, I analyze over 400 move announcements from 2004-2024 to find a positive abnormal return in the short run when firms announce that they are moving their headquarters. There is a pronounced impact on stock prices for firms leaving California and moving to Texas.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/behavioral_and_computational_economics_theses/6"],"dc:source":["Hazlett, Marilyn Giselle. \"Leaving California: The Price Impact of Announcing a Headquarters Relocation.\" Master's thesis, Chapman University, 2025. https://doi.org/10.36837/chapman.000677"],"dc:subject":["financial economics","event study","headquarters","California","corporate structure","Finance","Industrial Organization","Regional Economics"],"dc:title":["Leaving California: The Price Impact of Announcing a Headquarters Relocation"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Behavioral and Computational Economics"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:38:43Z"}