An examination of the voluntary recognition of acquired brand names in theUnited Kingdom

This study examines UK firms' contracting cost incentives for capitalizing estimates of brand value. Results indicate that firms' decisions to capital ize acquired brands were influenced by the impact that the immediate write- off of goodwill to equity has on the London Stock Exchange's shareholder ap proval requirement for future acquisitions and disposals. These findings pr ovide evidence of contracting costs that result from stock exchange mandate d shareholder approval rules for planned transactions. (C) 1999 Elsevier Sc ience B.V. All rights reserved. JEL classification: M41.