Should companies be allowed to buy back their own shares?

Sweta Pramanick; Philip Fliers

Should companies be allowed to buy back their own shares?

Sweta Pramanick
, Philip Fliers

Queen's Business School (QBS)

Research output: Contribution to specialist publication › Article

Abstract

During the pandemic, there has been severe hostility to firms buying back their own shares, a practice only made legal in the UK in 1981. Opposition to stock repurchases is associated with allegations of ‘short-termism’, but there is little evidence to support such claims.

Original language	English
Specialist publication	The Economics Observatory
Publication status	Published - 12 Apr 2021

Access to Document

https://www.economicsobservatory.com/should-companies-be-allowed-to-buy-back-their-own-sharesLicence: Unspecified

Tackling productivity questions
Pramanick, S. (Author), Fliers, P. (Supervisor), Turner, J. (Supervisor) & Jordan, D. (Supervisor), Jul 2025
Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis › Thesis with Publications

Cite this

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title = "Should companies be allowed to buy back their own shares?",

abstract = "During the pandemic, there has been severe hostility to firms buying back their own shares, a practice only made legal in the UK in 1981. Opposition to stock repurchases is associated with allegations of {\textquoteleft}short-termism{\textquoteright}, but there is little evidence to support such claims. ",

author = "Sweta Pramanick and Philip Fliers",

year = "2021",

month = apr,

day = "12",