以往文獻指出成本僵固性導因於資源調整不效率性或代理問題，而本研究主張成本僵固性可能是反映管理階層對於公司未來前景為樂觀之預期，因此本研究檢測公開收購之公司，管理階層是否會藉由成本僵固性，來向市場上釋放出公司未來之展望。本研究發現，公司若採用固定價格收購，管理階層越會利用成本僵固性來向市場上釋放訊號，但公司若採用荷蘭式拍賣，卻無法得到相同之結果。接著，本研究也發現，在資訊環境越不透明時，相較於荷蘭式拍賣方式，採用固定價格收購的公司成本僵固性越明顯。綜合上述，管理階層若對公司未來展望為樂觀之預期時，會透過固定價格收購購回股票並且搭配成本僵固性，來向市場上釋放出訊號。

The previous academic literature on sticky costs mostly focused on resource adjustment inefficiency or agency problems. However, there is little evidence on whether managers intentionally use sticky costs to signal private information. We find that the degree of sticky costs is significantly higher for fixed-price repurchase tender offers than Dutch-auction tender offers. In other words, managers who adopt fixed-price repurchase tender offers intentionally use sticky costs to signal managerial optimism. Furthermore, we also find that the signaling effect of sticky costs is stronger for firms with less analyst coverage and lower institutional ownership. Overall, our evidence show that managers could use sticky costs as a signal of business prospects.

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