{"title":"Climate Uncertainty and Corporate Investment: Evidence from State-Led Climate Change Adaptation Plans","authors":"Yuna Heo","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3816477","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3816477","url":null,"abstract":"We document that climate uncertainty negatively affects corporate investment. The effect is more pronounced for firms with higher capital intensity, higher operating inflexibility, and less redeployable capital. Our results are robust to using an instrumental variable approach and to using alternative climate uncertainty measure. Further, we find that climate adaptation plans mitigate the negative effects of climate uncertainty on corporate investment. We establish this result using the staggered introduction of State-led Climate Change Adaptation Plans. Our findings suggest that climate uncertainty can depress corporate investment, but climate adaptation plans shield firms from climate uncertainty contributing to investment resilience.","PeriodicalId":127551,"journal":{"name":"Corporate Finance: Valuation","volume":"47 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122707255","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
A. Marshall, Sandeep Rao, P. P. Roy, Chandra Thapa
{"title":"Extreme Rainfall and Institutional Investor Behavior","authors":"A. Marshall, Sandeep Rao, P. P. Roy, Chandra Thapa","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3815526","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3815526","url":null,"abstract":"We investigate institutional investor behavior and firm valuation surrounding extreme rainfall conditions in rain-sensitive firms. Using Indian monsoon data and exploiting extreme rainfall conditions as ongoing natural experiments, we show that institutional investors significantly increase (decrease) their ownership in rain-sensitive firms during the excess (deficit) rainfall years. Despite the extreme rainfall conditions we show that institutional investors gain from investing in rain-sensitive firms during excess periods, as those firms have superior financial performance in the following period. Further analysis shows that although both domestic and foreign institutional investors increase their ownership in rain-sensitive firms following excess rainfall periods, only domestic institutional investors significantly divest from rain-sensitive firms in deficit periods. Our results support the view that extreme climate conditions can impact firm value and change investor behavior.","PeriodicalId":127551,"journal":{"name":"Corporate Finance: Valuation","volume":"25 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130526590","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Victoria Mbathi, Felix G. Mwambia, Joycelyn Makena
{"title":"Effect of Cash Conversion Cycle and Inventory Holding Period on the Profitability of Small and Medium Enterprises in Wote, Makueni County","authors":"Victoria Mbathi, Felix G. Mwambia, Joycelyn Makena","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3814951","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3814951","url":null,"abstract":"This study examined influence of working capital management practices on the profitability of small and medium sized enterprises in Makueni County. A cross-sectional survey research design was used. A sample of 50 small and medium sized enterprises from Wote town was used. The financial statements for 2012-2016 were used to generate secondary data while semi-structured questionnaires were used for primary data collection. Descriptive statistics of frequency, means and standard deviation were used while the results were presented in tables. The study aimed at finding out the relationship between profits of the small and medium enterprises and inventory turnover, receivables, cash management and payables. The findings indicated that there exist a positive but not significant relationship between cash conversion cycle and profitability, while inventory-holding period has a positive and significant effect on profitability. The study recommends an improvement on the cash conversion cycle and use of the findings for developing policies for improvement since small and medium enterprises are key contributors to the Gross Domestic Product of the country.","PeriodicalId":127551,"journal":{"name":"Corporate Finance: Valuation","volume":"7 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130257512","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"How Do Stronger Creditor Rights Impact Corporate Acquisition Activity and Quality?","authors":"Megan Rainville, Emre Unlu, J. Wu","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3811533","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3811533","url":null,"abstract":"We exploit a quasi-natural experiment (the adoption of state anti-recharacterization (AR) laws) to study the effect of strengthened creditor rights on corporate mergers and acquisitions (M&A). We find that, following the passage of AR laws, firms significantly reduce M&A activities. This effect is stronger for firms with higher bankruptcy risk. Conditional on making an acquisition, M&A announcement returns to both shareholders and bondholders are larger for acquirers with high bankruptcy risk, indicating no evidence of wealth transfers. Our evidence suggests that ex-ante strengthened creditor rights prompt firms to conduct more value-enhancing deals.","PeriodicalId":127551,"journal":{"name":"Corporate Finance: Valuation","volume":"43 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115678396","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Capital Budgeting Decisions, Cash Flow Forecasts, and Management Accountants’ Motivated Reasoning: A Field Study","authors":"M. Wouters, Frank Stadtherr","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3812939","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3812939","url":null,"abstract":"Management accountants who are preparing cash flow forecasts for capital budgeting decisions may have preferred conclusions that lead to motivated reasoning. Whereas previous research has mainly demonstrated antecedents of accountants’ motivated reasoning (e.g., client pressure), we look more closely at the phenomenon of accountants’ motivated reasoning itself. We conducted a field study in the management accounting department in product development in a car company. We describe two detailed episodes around the technical design of new cars, preparation of cash flow forecasts, and decisions on capital investment projects. We develop and provide empirical evidence for a theoretical framework that builds on key elements of motivated reasoning: normative ambiguity and justification. The framework includes four ways in which accountants may exploit normative ambiguity for influencing their forecasts, and it contains four ways for accountants to create justification by showing comparisons.","PeriodicalId":127551,"journal":{"name":"Corporate Finance: Valuation","volume":"8 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128698172","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Value of a Neighbor: The Real Impact of Neighboring Firm Valuations","authors":"B. Cannon","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3800424","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3800424","url":null,"abstract":"A firm’s investment responds to the stock valuations of other firms headquartered nearby. This response is stronger among financially constrained firms, is robust to controlling for the investment of other firms in the region, and is driven by the valuations of large firms. These findings are difficult to reconcile with existing theories that link investment opportunities to firm valuations, but instead suggest that a firm’s access to credit rises and falls with the valuations of other firms located nearby. Consistent with this explanation, financially constrained firms issue more debt and receive lower loan spreads when neighboring firms have higher valuations.","PeriodicalId":127551,"journal":{"name":"Corporate Finance: Valuation","volume":"38 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114832705","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Science and the Market for Technology","authors":"A. Arora, Sharon Belenzon, Jungkyu Suh","doi":"10.3386/W28534","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3386/W28534","url":null,"abstract":"Well-functioning markets for technology (MFT) allow inventors to sell their inventions to others that may derive more value from them. We argue that the growing use of science in inventions enhances MFT. Science-based inventions have higher gains from trade and lower transaction costs. This relationship is amplified in equilibrium because science-based inventions are also likely to feature smaller inventors with a greater propensity to trade. Using large-scale data, we show that patents citing science are more likely to be traded, especially for novel patents and for smaller inventors. We conclude that the growing use of science in invention is beneficial by encouraging the expansion of MFT and supporting a division of innovative labor. This paper was accepted by David Simchi-Levi, entrepreneurship and innovation.","PeriodicalId":127551,"journal":{"name":"Corporate Finance: Valuation","volume":"78 8","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"113940794","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"To Diversify or Not to Diversify? – Questioning the Diversification Discount in Germany","authors":"Marc Eulerich, B. Fligge","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3788057","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3788057","url":null,"abstract":"The decision to realign a company through diversification is highly relevant not only for the board and corporate development functions but also for shareholders and other stakeholders. In research and practice, the diversification of risk and return is always considered against the background of effects on stock market valuation. In this context, the question of the extent to which diversified companies are better or worse valued by the capital market has to be answered time and again. Against this background, this study examines the effects of diversification on capital market valuations using German data. Although the fact that conglomerates trade at a discount seems to be common knowledge, the results for the German market are ambiguous and outdated. Using a 2SLS approach, our study confirms the existence of a conglomerate discount, which ranges from 6.3% to 14% depending on the measure of market value. However, we find that this discount is not caused by diversification but by the factors that affect the propensity to diversify.","PeriodicalId":127551,"journal":{"name":"Corporate Finance: Valuation","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-02-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115648375","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Economics and Finance of Customer-Supplier Relationships","authors":"Ling Cen, S. Dasgupta","doi":"10.1093/acrefore/9780190625979.013.631","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190625979.013.631","url":null,"abstract":"The interrelationships between upstream supplier firms and downstream customer firms—popularly referred to as supply-chain relationships—constitute one of the most important linkages in the economy. Suppliers not only provide production inputs for their customers but, increasingly, also engage in R&D and innovation activity that is beneficial to the customers. Yet, the high degree of relationship specificity that such activities involve, and the difficulty of writing complete contracts, expose suppliers to potential hold-up problems. Mechanisms that mitigate opportunism have implications for the origins of such relationships, firm boundary, and organizational structure. Smaller supplier firms benefit from relationships with large customer firms in many ways, such as knowledge sharing, operational efficiency, insulation from competition, and reputation in capital markets. However, customer bargaining power, undiversified customer base, and innovation strategy also expose suppliers to disruption risk. Relationship specificity of investment, customer bargaining power, and customer concentration associated with a less diversified customer base have important consequences for financing decisions of suppliers and customers, such as capital structure choice and the provision and role of trade credit. Changes in the risk of disruption (e.g., bankruptcy filings, takeover activity, and credit market shocks) have spillover effects along the supply chain. The correlation of economic fundamentals of suppliers and customers and the co-attention that they receive from market participants translate to return predictability (with implications for trading strategies), information diffusion along the supply chain, and stock-price informativeness of supply-chain partners.","PeriodicalId":127551,"journal":{"name":"Corporate Finance: Valuation","volume":"167 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131812906","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Component Replacement Under Uncertainty - A Switching Option Perspective","authors":"Gianluca Fusai, I. Kyriakou, Matteo Castiglioni","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3771642","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3771642","url":null,"abstract":"We develop a novel, workable switching option model approach to component redesign and replacement projects that are divisible into sequential phases. The component manufacturer has the option to retain the current product position and abandon the project, or switch to a redesigned product position. Additional uncertainty remains as to whether the redesigned product can meet the newly set production efficiency criteria. Depending on the viability of a prototype, the firm can finally decide whether or not to move to final production. Our framework incorporates a potentially valuable option which aims to reduce the cost of the project. It is generally applicable to fields where investments in components’ replacement have to be correctly timed due to large costs and uncertainties about the outcome. We illustrate this by means of a case study application in aeronautical engineering using real data, where we show via a sensitivity analysis based on the key variables that the flexibility of component switching offered via options during the development of the project can be significantly valuable.","PeriodicalId":127551,"journal":{"name":"Corporate Finance: Valuation","volume":"74 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127360472","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}