Capacity overhang and corporate disinvestment decisions

Abstract

We use a stochastic frontier model to estimate a firm's capacity overhang. We find that excess capacity is positively related to a drop in new capital expenditures, an accumulation of depleted long-term assets, and outright sales of investment assets. However, the sale of long-term assets (property, plant, and equipment [PP&E]) peaks for intermediate levels of excess capacity and then declines. We attribute this to growth options. We test for evidence of a preference ordering in the firm's choice of responding to excess capacity and find evidence for a pecking order in firm disinvestment, where sales of long-term assets are a measure of last resort.