Financial hedging and operational flexibility as instruments to manage exchange-rate uncertainty in multinational corporations

Abstract

Research Summary

Literature that compares the advantages of financial hedging and operational flexibility as instruments to manage exchange-rate uncertainty presents inconsistent results. This study addresses such inconsistencies in two ways. First, it clarifies that the effects of financial hedging and operational flexibility are asymmetric. Financial hedging helps an MNC to reduce a negative effect of exchange-rate uncertainty on firm value, whereas operational flexibility allows an MNC to enhance a positive effect of exchange-rate uncertainty on firm value. Second, the study demonstrates that these effects are contextual to the MNC's subsidiary network. Depending on whether exchange-rate correlation in the subsidiary network is positive or negative, either financial hedging or operational flexibility is more effective than the other. Regressions on a sample of U.S. manufacturing firms support the predictions.

Managerial Summary

Multinational corporations face exchange-rate fluctuations in their subsidiary networks as a source of substantial uncertainty. MNCs can manage this uncertainty using financial hedging and operational flexibility. However, the literature is inconclusive on whether MNCs can use both instruments in equal measure. This study clarifies that financial hedging allows MNCs to limit negative consequences of exchange-rate uncertainty on their stock-market valuations. Operational flexibility, by contrast, gives MNCs the opportunity to exploit exchange-rate uncertainty and thereby to enhance their firm value. In addition, the study proposes that the effectiveness of financial hedging and operational flexibility depends on the individual MNC's subsidiary network configuration. Based on these findings, MNCs can identify the effective instrument for managing exchange-rate uncertainty.