Innovation capability and post-IPO performance

This paper studies how firms’ innovation capability is related to their stock performance and eventual survival for a sample of biotech IPO firms. We create product-related measures of firms’ innovation capability by tracking the changes in R&D expenses, products, patents, strategic alliances, and product development stages for our sample firms, as disclosed in their IPO prospectuses and third post-IPO 10-K filings. We find that innovation capability is critical to contemporaneous stock performance and eventual firm survival. Biotech IPO firms are more likely to succeed in the long run, if they are able to expand the scale of their research undertakings and make progress in these research activities.     

Product market relationships and cost of bank loans: Evidence from strategic alliances

This paper examines the relation between strategic alliances and non-financial firms’ bank loan financing. We construct several measures to capture firms’ alliance activities. The key finding is that borrowing firms with active alliance involvement experience lower cost of bank loans. The reduction of borrowing cost is strongest for financially unconstrained firms and firms with high G-index and intensive monitoring from institutional investors. We also relate various characteristics of alliance agreements to the cost of bank borrowing, and find evidence supporting market power hypothesis and organizational flexibility hypothesis. We further report that allying with a prestigious partner (i.e., S&P 1500 firms) provides certification effect that lowers bank loan cost. In addition, firms positioned in the center of the alliance network enjoy lower cost of bank loans. Lastly, we document that firms engaging in alliance activities expand their debt capacity and are less likely to use collaterals and covenants in their bank loan contracts.     

Peer R&D disclosure and corporate innovation: Evidence from American depositary receipt firms

In this paper, we examine the effect of peer research and development (R&D) disclosures on corporate innovation. R&D disclosures can generate externalities for related firms, enabling those firms to better infer a project's likely payoffs and thus prioritize projects with higher net present values. We use a sample of foreign firms cross-listed on U.S. exchanges to investigate whether U.S. peer firms experience externalities from the cross-listing firm's R&D disclosures. We find that R&D disclosures by cross-listing firms are associated with greater innovation for industry peers in the U.S. market, especially when product market competition is high. The effect also varies with the home country's legal protection systems, disclosure environments, and accounting reporting rules. Cross-sectional analyses indicate that the externalities are more pronounced in industries or firms that rely more on external financing and firms subject to higher financial constraints; disclosures of higher quality appear to promote innovation by ameliorating financing frictions. Overall, this study provides evidence of R&D disclosure as an industry-wide determinant of innovation, thereby contributing to literature on the real effects of peer disclosures.     

The source of abnormal returns from strategic alliance announcements

This study links together theoretical models of strategic alliances with an empirical examination of stock returns on the announcement of strategic alliances. Using a sample of 123 strategic alliance announcements, the results find strong support for the hypothesis that strategic alliance announcements generate significant positive abnormal returns on the announcement day. Although strategic alliances are more prevalent in the higher technology industries, the source of the abnormal stock returns is a subsample of firms with the lowest market to book values. This is found to be supportive of the hypothesis that the announcement of a strategic alliance is additional information for firms with low growth. There is no empirical support for the knowledge, flexibility and the hubris hypotheses.     

Does insiders share pledging stifle innovation? Evidence from China

We examine the relation between insiders share pledging activities for personal loans and firm innovation. Firstly, we find a negative effect of both the existence of pledging and the intensity of pledging activities on firm innovation, measured by R&D and patent application. Pledging by insiders with decision rights is associated with a 4.6% decline in R&D activities and 0.5% decline in patent applications, respectively, which accounts for 4.0% and 10.6% of the mean of each variable. This result holds using a propensity-score matched sample. In addition, we instrument pledging activities by financing constraints faced by other firms controlled by the same controlling insiders who pledge shares. IV estimation yield similar results. Secondly, we find share pledge activities have more pronounced effect on firm innovations when firms are located in areas with strong property rights protection, when firms are non-SOEs, or when pledging insiders serve on corporate boards. Lastly, we also find a negative effect of share pledging of other firms with common shareholders on firm innovations of interest. Overall, our findings suggest that pledging shares by insiders stifle firm innovation because share pledging reduce insiders' preference for risk taking.     

Do equity financing cycles matter? evidence from biotechnology alliances

In periods characterized by diminished public market financing, small biotechnology firms appear to be more likely to fund R&D through alliances with major corporations rather than with internal funds (raised through the capital markets). We consider 200 alliance agreements entered into by biotechnology firms between 1980 and 1995. Agreements signed during periods of limited external equity financing are more likely to assign the bulk of the control to the larger corporate partner, and are significantly less successful than other alliances. These agreements are also disproportionately likely to be renegotiated if financial market conditions subsequently improve.     

Outside directors' equity incentives and strategic alliance decisions

This study examines whether the proportion of equity-based compensation in outside director compensation is associated with corporate strategic alliances. We hypothesize that equity incentives provided to outside directors mitigate potential agency conflicts between outside directors and shareholders that arise from the strategic alliance decision-making process, thus resulting in more alliance activities. Our empirical evidence indicates that the percentage of equity in outside director compensation is positively associated with the incidence and the number of strategic alliance activities. Additionally, when the proportion of outside directors' equity in total compensation is higher, firms with strategic alliances generate better future stock returns. Overall, our findings suggest that providing equity incentives in outside director compensation mitigates the agency problems inherent in corporate strategic alliance decisions and enhances the quality of alliance activities.     

Government R&D spending,fiscal instruments and corporate technological innovation

Using panel data from 242 cities in China, we examine the impact of government research and development (R&D) spending on corporate technological innovation. We find that listed firms located in cities with higher government R&D expenditures are more innovative than firms in other cities. Further, the positive effect of government R&D spending depends on fiscal instruments and factor allocation. Through subsidies and tax incentives, government R&D spending enhances firm innovation by alleviating financing constraints, improving employee creativity and ensuring efficient operations. We demonstrate that subsidies are more effective than taxes in spurring corporate technological innovation. We also show that the impact of government R&D spending is stronger for state-owned and high-tech enterprises than for other enterprises. Overall, our findings suggest that government R&D spending can substantially improve corporate technological innovation through fiscal instruments.     

The Value of Strategic Alliances in Acquisitions and IPOs

This paper investigates how firms’ strategic alliance experience affects their valuations as acquisition targets or in initial public offerings (IPOs). We propose that alliance experience serves as a valuable signaling device for opaque firms. The results show that takeover targets with alliance experience receive higher premiums than those without such experience. More recent alliance experience as well as alliances in the same industry also contributes to a larger target gain. Similarly, IPO firms that have alliance experience obtain higher valuations than those without the experience. Finally, alliance experience increases the likelihood that private firms exit by going public rather than being acquired.     

Firm boundaries matter: Evidence from conglomerates and R&D activity

This paper examines the impact of the conglomerate form on the scale and novelty of corporate Research and Development (R&D) activity. I exploit a quasi-experiment involving failed mergers to generate exogenous variation in acquisition outcomes of target firms. A difference-in-differences estimation reveals that, relative to failed targets, firms acquired in diversifying mergers produce both a smaller number of innovations and also less-novel innovations, where innovations are measured using patent-based metrics. The treatment effect is amplified if the acquiring conglomerate operates a more active internal capital market and is largely driven by inventors becoming less productive after the merger rather than inventor exits. Concurrently, acquirers move R&D activity outside the boundary of the firm via the use of strategic alliances and joint ventures. There is complementary evidence that conglomerates with more novel R&D tend to operate with decentralized R&D budgets. These findings suggest that conglomerate organizational form affects the allocation and productivity of resources.     

Measuring the value of strategic alliances in the wake of a financial implosion: Evidence from Japan’s financial services sector

This paper examines the wealth effects of financial-institution strategic alliances on the shareholders of the newly allied firms. Our paper is different from most previous studies, in that we focus on financial institutions, we employ Japanese data for the late 1990s, and we study whether different types of alliances result in differing magnitudes of stock market responses.We find that a strategic alliance, on average, increases the value of the partner firms. Second, the gains from the alliance are spread more widely among the partners than would be suggested by a random alternative. Third, smaller partners tend to experience larger percentage gains. Fourth, the market values inter-group alliance announcements more than intra-group alliance announcements. Fifth, we do not find a significant difference in the abnormal returns shown by domestic–foreign alliances and domestic–domestic alliances.     

Corporate capital structure and the characteristics of suppliers and customers

We investigate the link between a firm's leverage and the characteristics of its suppliers and customers. Specifically, we examine whether firms use decreased leverage as a commitment mechanism to induce suppliers/customers to undertake relationship-specific investments. We find that the firm's leverage is negatively related to the R&D intensities of its suppliers and customers. We also find lower debt levels for firms operating in industries in which strategic alliances and joint ventures with firms in supplier and customer industries are more prevalent. Consistent with a bargaining role for debt, we find a positive relation between firm debt level and the degree of concentration in supplier/customer industries.     

Limits of tax regulation: Evidence from strategic R&D classification and the R&D tax credit

We investigate a tax avoidance strategy where firms use the ambiguity inherent in tax reporting to classify indirect costs as research and development (R&D) expenditures to take advantage of the R&D tax credit. We label this tax practice “strategic R&D classification”. We find a one standard deviation increase in strategic R&D classification leads, on average, to a 1.7% (1.5%) reduction in GAAP (cash) effective tax rates, suggesting this practice provides significant tax savings. However, we also find strategic R&D classification is related to both the level and changes in uncertain tax benefit liabilities required to be recognized under FIN 48, suggesting this practice comes with financial reporting costs. Our study contributes to the literature by documenting some of the costs and benefits associated with a previously unexplored tax strategy, and highlights the limitations faced by tax authorities in monitoring firms’ R&D tax credit.     

Restructuring and innovation in pharmaceuticals and biotechs: The impact of financialisation

In this paper we explore whether a financialisation perspective can provide a more empirically satisfying account of recent developments in the pharmaceutical industry than the more commonly used resource-based or transaction cost approaches. Specifically, we note the evolution of the pharmaceutical industry structure from giant vertically integrated firms, selling patent protected blockbuster products at premium prices, to greater vertical disintegration. Big Pharma¹ now sources a significant volume of early stage R&D activity externally, through outright acquisitions or alliances, especially with biotechnology firms. Much of the reason for such vertical disintegration is to be found in the fundamental tension experienced between the high R&D spend necessitated by the cost of pharmaceutical innovation and declining returns on this expenditure in terms generating new product sales and FDA approval rates, which have remained broadly constant at an average of 20–35 approvals per year. The new R&D outsourcing strategy has not delivered an increase in marketable drug discoveries or new ‘blockbuster’ profits. Instead, shareholder returns have been maintained through Big Pharma's decision to distribute cash back to shareholders via share buybacks and dividends (as advocated by Jensen). Thus we conclude that such developments within Big Pharma worldwide are best explained through the lens of a financialisation, as opposed to a resource-based or transaction cost framework.     

The Stock Market and Corporate Investment: A Test of Catering Theory

We test a catering theory describing how stock market mispricingmight influence individual firms' investment decisions. We usediscretionary accruals as our proxy for mispricing. We finda positive relation between abnormal investment and discretionaryaccruals; that abnormal investment is more sensitive to discretionaryaccruals for firms with higher R&D intensity (opaque firms)or share turnover (firms with shorter shareholder horizons);that firms with high abnormal investment subsequently have lowstock returns; and that the larger the relative price premium,the stronger the abnormal return predictability. We show thatpatterns in abnormal returns are stronger for firms with higherR&D intensity or share turnover.     

Innovation quality of firms with the research and development tax credit

This paper examines innovation quality of U.S. research tax credit users (i.e., firms with currently earned research tax credits). Prior literature reports that the research tax credit is effective in increasing research and development (R&D) expenditures and reducing managers’ myopic behavior. However, little is known about the real (or economic) effect of R&D tax credits, as most of these findings have been based on estimated R&D tax credits rather than actual R&D tax credits. Additionally, some researchers and the government still have concerns about the real effect of R&D tax credits by criticizing the ambiguity and complexity of the tax codes (IRC Section 41). Therefore, I use actual R&D tax credits identified in firms’ 10-K and state R&D tax credits as identification tests to reduce endogeneity issues. My results indicate that research generating R&D tax credits contributes to better innovation quality and higher return volatility but lower pre-tax profitability. Overall, these findings imply that enacting the R&D tax credit provisions would trigger better innovation.     

The impact of M&A and joint ventures on the value of IT and non-IT firms

This paper aims to study and provide empirical evidence on the impact of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and joint ventures on the value of IT and non-IT firms. Using the event study methodology, we investigate the effect of such strategic alliance announcements on firm value in a sample of 170 firms. The results show that such strategic alliance announcements create significant gains in firm value. When the sample is divided into IT and non-IT firms, we find stronger support for positive impact on gains in firm value among non-IT firms than among IT firms. We also find that the smaller strategic alliance partners perform better than their larger partners. However, we fail to find any significant difference in impact on firm value between merger/acquisition and joint venture announcements. This work was supported by the research fund of Hanyang University (HY-2004). JEL Classification L1 · G14 · G34     

Cash flow uncertainty,financial constraints and R&D investment

Based on the data from Chinese listed companies of Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets between 2005 and 2016, we systematically examine the relationship between cash flow uncertainty and R&D investment, and further research the moderating effect of financial constraints on the association between the two. Our empirical results find that R&D investment decisions tend to be more conservative and cautious due to cash flow uncertainty, which is not conducive to innovation efficiency. Firms with higher cash flow uncertainty invest more cautiously in R&D innovation, whereas firms with lower cash flow invest more boldly in R&D innovation. Financial friction may exacerbate the negative impact of cash flow uncertainty on innovation activities. Strategic cash holding can help firms better deal with the risks caused by cash flow uncertainty. In provinces with high marketization, the market competition intensifies, resulting in more significant cash flow uncertainty.     

Does innovation and financial constraints affect the propensity to save in emerging markets?

Despite the surge in corporate savings and heightened interest in understanding the reasons for this behaviour, little is known about the forces behind this stylised phenomenon in emerging markets (EMs). Using a large sample of firms from nine African countries over the period 2001–2015, we posit and find that the propensity to save is higher in this context due to limited access to external finance. However, when we examine the effects of innovation on corporate savings, we find that the results are reversed as, relative to Non-R&D firms, R&D firms save less of their operating cash flow. This is in stark contrast to the extant literature in advanced economies, which shows that savings are essential to smoothen lumpy, irreversible and risky investments in innovation. We find this is due to the reversal in firm-specific factors, with R&D firms in this context being larger and more mature; hence, relying less on internal financing sources compared to young and less-mature R&D firms in advanced economies. We interpret our results as suggestive of the overarching influence of access to external finance as a major determinant of the propensity to save and deterrent to investing in innovation. Our finding helps explain the glut in innovation amongst small and young firms in emerging markets and calls for policies that promote innovation.     

Do strategic alliances in a developing country create firm value? Evidence from Korean firms

This paper examines the impact of strategic alliances on the increment of firm value in the case of Korean firms. For this, we apply an event study using OLS and GARCH market models. The results of our study show that, strategic alliances in Korea produce significant positive abnormal returns before and at the announcement date, indicating an increase in firm value. This firm value augmented by alliance announcements does not have any relationship with firms' growth but has an inverse relationship with firms' sizes. Interestingly, non-technological marketing alliances contribute to increasing firm value more than technological alliances do, regardless of partner firms' nationality. This evidence is contrasted to the cases of firms in advanced countries. Particularly, Korean firms' marketing alliances with firms in advanced G7 countries contribute to largely increasing the firm value of the former.