MNEs and market valuation of firms: a cross-sectional study of Indian electrical and electronic goods manufacturing firms

This paper argues that inter-firm differences in the direction of change in market valuation will depend mainly on the ‘salience’ and unique risk characteristics of the firms. These characteristics are largely influenced by mulinational enterprise (MNE) affiliation. The sample for the study consists of electrical and electronic manufacturing firms in India for 1994–1996. Maximum Likelihood Estimates of the Probit model show that even during a downswing in the stock market MNE affiliates were able to hold their own and increase their market valuation. These results hold good for a wide variety of products produced in this sector where both MNEs and local firms compete. The results have implications for theories relating to MNEs, stock market valuation and also for policy makers.     

Entry of foreign firms and the R&D behaviour: a panel data study of domestic and foreign firms in China's manufacturing sector

Rapid globalization has resulted in increased competitive pressures. The entry of foreign firms in a host economy increases the level of competition faced by not only the domestic firms but also the existing foreign firms. We argue that domestic firms, especially in developing countries, respond to this situation by increasing their research and development (R&D) spending, whereas the foreign firms decrease their R&D spending. By making use of firm-level panel data from China's manufacturing sector, over the period 2005–2007, this paper investigates the impact of the entry of foreign firms on R&D behaviour of domestic and foreign firms. Empirical analysis, based on Tobit and Instrumental Variables Tobit regression, reveals that foreign entry increases the R&D intensity of domestic firms but its impact on R&D intensity of foreign firms is negative. The estimated results are found to be robust across balanced and unbalanced panels.     

Entry costs and labor market dynamics

We study the cyclical dynamics of the value of a vacant position in labor markets characterized by search and matching frictions. We present a model of aggregate fluctuations in which firms face sunk costs to enter the production process. Our specification of sunk costs gives rise to a countercyclical value of a vacancy. We find that this overlooked object has important quantitative implications for the study of labor markets and business cycles. It affects the cyclical dynamics of the surplus division between workers and firms, and provides a better characterization of the movements in income shares over recessions and expansions. Understanding movements in the value of a vacant position helps to link the dynamics of income shares with recent volatility puzzles found in models of search and matching in labor markets.     

The life cycle of worker-owned firms in market economies: A theoretical analysis

The population of worker-owned firms is likely to grow countercyclically: in contrast with capitalist firms, many worker-owned firms are born during recessions, frequently out of capitalist firms, and are transformed into capitalist firms during economic booms. There exists an offsetting tendency as worker-owned firms are formed during periods of sustained increase in the standard of living and are dissolved during economic decline. These are some of the conclusions of a theoretical analysis of the obstacles to the formation and relative efficiency attributes of worker-owned and capitalist firms carried out in a dynamic framework emphasizing the influence of changes in the environment on organizational life cycles.     

Pricing to market of Italian exporting firms

This article investigates the pricing-to-market (PTM) behaviour of Italian exporting firms, using quarterly survey data by sector and by region over the period 1999q1 to 2005q2. A partial equilibrium imperfect competition model provides the structure according to which the orthogonality of structural shocks is derived. Impulse response analysis shows non-negligible reactions of export-domestic price margins to unanticipated changes in cost competitiveness and in foreign and domestic demand levels, even though these effects appear to be of a transitory nature. For the period 1999 to 2001, a typical PTM behaviour emerges, while, during the most recent years favourable foreign demand conditions allowed firms to increase their export-domestic price margins in face of a strong deterioration of their cost competitiveness. Macroeconomic implications of the observed PTM behaviour are also discussed.     

Entry,market turbulence and industry employment growth

This paper investigates the relationship between industrial dynamics in terms of firm entry, market turbulence and employment growth. Do entry of firms, the composition of industry dynamics (net entry) and market turbulence (entry and exit) influence industrial employment growth? This paper provides an empirical investigation, using unique data for 42 disaggregated Swedish industrial sectors during the period 1997–2001. It is hypothesised that the importance of entering firms, net entry and market turbulence may differ significantly across industries. A quantile regression method is used in order to detect industrial differences in the response to industrial employment growth. The empirical evidence shows that, on the one hand, firm entry and market turbulence have a positive effect on employment for fast growing industries and that the effect is larger for high growth industries. On the other hand, the composition of industry dynamics in terms of net entry rates has a more dispersed effect across all industries, even though the effect of net entry is larger for high growth industries.     

Forex interventions and exchange rate exposure: Evidence from emerging market firms

Foreign exchange (forex) interventions by central banks have recently become too frequent in emerging markets. The effects of these interventions on exchange rate volatility are widely documented, but their implications for firm-level outcomes have rarely been examined. This study argues that forex interventions should influence the sensitivity of firms’ cash flows to currency movements. Accordingly, I address a novel question regarding the effect of forex interventions on emerging market firms’ exchange rate risk exposure. I find an asymmetric effect, such that the impact of forex purchase interventions differs from that of forex sale interventions. Moreover, the positive effects of forex sale interventions on the magnitude of firms’ exposure are more pronounced during depreciation periods. Study findings imply that firms remain unhedged, given that interventions are perceived as implicit government guarantees against currency fluctuations. Credible communication from policymakers regarding the motives for interventions by central banks would assist in alerting firms to potential currency risks.     

Firm selection and industry evolution: the post-entry performance of new firms

A dynamic framework based on the process of firm selection and industry evolution is used to analyse the post-entry performance of new firms. In particular, it is hypothesized that, based on the stylized fact that virtually all new firms start at a very small scale of output, firm growth and survival are shaped by the need to attain an efficient level of output. The post-entry performance of more than 11,000 U.S. manufacturing firms established in 1976 is tracked throughout the subsequent tenyear period. Firm growth is found to be negatively influenced by firm size but positively related to the extent of scale economies, capital intensity, innovative activity, and market growth. By contrast, the likelihood of survival is identified as being positively influenced by firm size, market growth, and capital intensity, but negatively affected by the degree of scale economies in the industry. When viewed through the dynamic framework of firm selection and industry evolution, the empirical results shed considerable light on several paradoxes in the industrial organization literature, such as the continued persistence over time of an asymmetrical firm-size distribution consisting predominantely of suboptimal scale firms, and the failure of capital intensity and scale economies to substantially deter the entry and start-up of new firms.     

Microcredit market structure and financing obstacles for micro firms

Using rich survey data of micro firms in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, I analze the effect of recent changes in microcredit market structure on perceived financing obstacles. Controlling for country, time and firm characteristics, lower microcredit market concentration is associated with firms reporting financing as a more severe obstacle to their operations. This indicates that rising competition between microfinance institutions may have led to reduced financial access. The results are consistent with information‐based theoretical predictions that lenders with less market power have weaker incentives to invest in lending relationships with opaque firms and that greater competition aggravates borrower screening.     

Exit, sunk costs and the selection of firms

Summary. This paper aims to identify the cost characteristics of exiting firms whenever firms are playing an infinite horizon supergame with time-invariant cost and demand functions. With more than two firms, the problem of which firms exit is quite similar to a coalition formation one. Solving this coalition formation problem, we obtain that the exiting firms are those with higher average cost functions whenever reentry is costless while, whenever reentry is unprofitable, the exiting firms are those with lower marginal (and possibly average) cost functions. Since reentry costs are typically sunk, our analysis points out that the presence of sunk costs affects not only the size (as it is well known) but also the composition of the industry. Received: April 5, 1995; revised version: January 28, 1998     

Internal selection and market selection in economic Genetic Algorithms

Genetic algorithms have been established as an alternative to neoclassical optimization for the illustration of economic agents’ behavior. Critics however, doubt they depict the particularities of social evolution, because they fail to describe intentional behavior. The current paper argues that advocates as well as critics of the procedure have overlooked the crucial necessity to distinguish between internal and external selection in the economy and to include both in economic Genetic Algorithms. The paper claims that such a differentiation will allow the model to depict intentional decisions as well as market selection and help to understand the effects of bounded rationality. It illustrates this point with a brief example modeled after the new-versus-new competition between lean-burn engines and catalysts in the 70th.     

Investment opportunities and cash holdings of firms: an empirical study on Korean firms

We find that the cash flow sensitivity of cash holdings of firms whose investment opportunities are lower is significantly higher by examining a panel data of 898 Korean firms for 1999–2014. The cash flow sensitivity of investment is also found to be lower in case of low investment opportunity. Both findings suggest that firms decide to hold cash in response to an increase in cash flow when they do not have a good investment opportunity. Precautionary motive because of financial constraints and uncertainty, and agency problems, however, are not associated with the cash flow sensitivity of cash holdings. These findings imply that it is necessary to develop new investment opportunities to encourage firms to spend more cash in Korea.     

Incentives for firms to provide safety: Regulatory authority and capital market reactions

We investigate the relationship between the various incentives that firms have to act safely, focusing on the relationship between the equity losses experienced by a firm following a fatal, accident and the incentive effects created by government regulation. The major findings are that first, the capital market reactions vary dramatically by which agency has regulatory jurisdiction for the accident. And second, the capital market effects tend to be weak (equity values do not decline sizably) where federal agencies rely heavily on an ex ante inspection policy. On the other hand, where ex ante inspection policy is lax or nonexistent, capital market effects tend to be strong - up to an order of magnitude higher per fatality than willingness-to-pay estimates based on labor market data.     

The exceptional performance of exporters and labour market outcomes: evidence from Egyptian firms

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the manufacturing export market in Egypt after the Arab Spring using a novel firm-level census dataset from 2013. Export is very rare in Egypt. The conventional export premia are very high, except for total factor productivity. Exporters have stark effects on labour market outcomes, including wages, employment, demand for skilled and female workers, wage inequality, and job security. These findings have two important implications: (1) Manufacturing exports might be monopolized by large firms, and (2) promoting exports could improve labour market outcomes, especially for skilled and female workers.     

Families and firms: Agency costs and labor market imperfections in Sialkot's surgical industry

The family firm is generally viewed as an organizational solution to agency costs in the labor market for managers and institutional underdevelopment. Consistent with this view, this paper links the preponderance of family firms in the surgical instrument industry of Sialkot to the prevailing agency and institutional problems. However, strong dependence on family management coupled with restrictions on family size constrains the firms from optimally choosing management size. The resulting labor market distortion is manifested by a significant positive correlation between the founder's family size and the firm size such that the founders who have more brothers (a larger pool of potential managers) end up with bigger firms.     

Profit risk,market power and pricing decisions of large firms

We examine the response of price-setting firms to cyclical variations in demand and establish a set of conditions under which prices are adjusted countercyclically. We consider whether firms with market power attempt to reduce risk exposure through pricing policies.     

Financial market imperfections and home ownership: A comparative study

We explore the determinants of the distribution of owner occupancy rates across age groups using a collection of microeconomic data on 14 OECD countries. In most, the survey is repeated over time. This allows us to construct an international dataset, merging data on 39 national household surveys with aggregate data on down payment ratios. We find strong evidence that the availability of mortgage finance - as measured by down payment ratios - affects the distribution of owner occupancy rates across age groups, especially at the young end. The results are consistent with previous theoretical models and have important implications for the debate on the relation between saving and growth.     

Innovative growth: the role of market power and negative selection

ABSTRACT

This paper relies on register-based statistical data from Finland to measure broad research and development (R&D), organizational capital (OC) and information and communication technology (ICT) investments as innovation inputs in addition to formal survey-based R&D and CIS survey data on innovations. The linked panel data are appropriate for a comparison of low-market-share (small) and large-market-share (large) firms. We analyze the productivity growth and profitability of Finnish firms with varying market power. In contrast to high-market-share firms, low-market-share firms are characterized by low profit derived from new innovations. This study suggests that in addition to imitative growth, a ‘negative selection mechanism’ explains the high productivity growth relative to the low profits.     

Entry costs and stock market participation over the life cycle

Several explanations for the observed limited stock market participation have been offered in the literature. One of the most promising is the presence of market frictions mostly in the form of fixed entry and/or transaction costs. Empirical studies point to a significant structural (state) dependence in the stock market entry decision, which is consistent with costs of this type. However, the magnitude of these costs is not yet known. This paper focuses on fixed stock market entry costs. I set up a structural estimation procedure which involves solving and simulating a life cycle intertemporal portfolio choice model augmented with a fixed stock market entry cost. Important features of household portfolio data (from the PSID) are matched to their simulated counterparts. Utilizing a Simulated Minimum Distance estimator, I estimate the coefficient of relative risk aversion, the discount factor and the stock market entry cost. Given the equity premium and the calibrated income process, I estimate a one-time entry cost of approximately two percent of the permanent component of the annual labor income. My estimated model matches the zero median holding as well as the hump-shaped age–participation profile observed in the data.