IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/acctfi/v61y2021is1p1665-1695.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Share repurchases and firm innovation

Author

Listed:
  • Lily Nguyen
  • Le Vu
  • Xiangkang Yin

Abstract

We examine whether corporate decisions such as share repurchases influence a firm’s intangible assets and their production. We find a significantly negative relationship between share repurchases and firm innovation. The negative relationship survives all considered robustness tests. We further apply two identification strategies, namely, difference‐in‐differences analysis and instrumental variables estimation, to establish that the negative effect is causal; that is, from share repurchases to innovation.

Suggested Citation

  • Lily Nguyen & Le Vu & Xiangkang Yin, 2021. "Share repurchases and firm innovation," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(S1), pages 1665-1695, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:acctfi:v:61:y:2021:i:s1:p:1665-1695
    DOI: 10.1111/acfi.12641
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/acfi.12641
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/acfi.12641?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gustavo Manso, 2011. "Motivating Innovation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(5), pages 1823-1860, October.
    2. Julian Atanassov, 2013. "Do Hostile Takeovers Stifle Innovation? Evidence from Antitakeover Legislation and Corporate Patenting," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 68(3), pages 1097-1131, June.
    3. Boudry, Walter I. & Kallberg, Jarl G. & Liu, Crocker H., 2013. "Investment opportunities and share repurchases," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 23-38.
    4. Jesse Edgerton, 2013. "Four facts about dividend payouts and the 2003 tax cut," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 20(5), pages 769-784, October.
    5. Holmstrom, Bengt, 1989. "Agency costs and innovation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 305-327, December.
    6. Philippe Aghion & Nick Bloom & Richard Blundell & Rachel Griffith & Peter Howitt, 2005. "Competition and Innovation: an Inverted-U Relationship," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(2), pages 701-728.
    7. Ayyagari, Meghana & Demirgüç-Kunt, Asli & Maksimovic, Vojislav, 2011. "Firm Innovation in Emerging Markets: The Role of Finance, Governance, and Competition," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 46(6), pages 1545-1580, December.
    8. James B. ANG, 2014. "Innovation and Financial Liberalization: The Case of India," Economic Growth Centre Working Paper Series 1404, Nanyang Technological University, School of Social Sciences, Economic Growth Centre.
    9. Yaniv Grinstein & Roni Michaely, 2005. "Institutional Holdings and Payout Policy," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(3), pages 1389-1426, June.
    10. Chan, Konan & Ikenberry, David L. & Lee, Inmoo & Wang, Yanzhi, 2010. "Share repurchases as a potential tool to mislead investors," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 137-158, April.
    11. Philippe Aghion & John Van Reenen & Luigi Zingales, 2013. "Innovation and Institutional Ownership," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(1), pages 277-304, February.
    12. Raj Chetty & Emmanuel Saez, 2005. "Dividend Taxes and Corporate Behavior: Evidence from the 2003 Dividend Tax Cut," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(3), pages 791-833.
    13. Myers, Stewart C. & Majluf, Nicholas S., 1984. "Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 187-221, June.
    14. Thomas J. Chemmanur & Elena Loutskina & Xuan Tian, 2014. "Corporate Venture Capital, Value Creation, and Innovation," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 27(8), pages 2434-2473.
    15. Stewart C. Myers & Nicholas S. Majluf, 1984. "Corporate Financing and Investment Decisions When Firms Have InformationThat Investors Do Not Have," NBER Working Papers 1396, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Hribar, Paul & Jenkins, Nicole Thorne & Johnson, W. Bruce, 2006. "Stock repurchases as an earnings management device," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(1-2), pages 3-27, April.
    17. Viral V. Acharya & Ramin P. Baghai & Krishnamurthy V. Subramanian, 2014. "Wrongful Discharge Laws and Innovation," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 27(1), pages 301-346, January.
    18. Gustavo Grullon & Roni Michaely, 2004. "The Information Content of Share Repurchase Programs," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 59(2), pages 651-680, April.
    19. Leonid Kogan & Dimitris Papanikolaou & Amit Seru & Noah Stoffman, 2017. "Technological Innovation, Resource Allocation, and Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 132(2), pages 665-712.
    20. repec:cup:jfinqa:v:46:y:2011:i:06:p:1545-1580_00 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Xuan Tian & Tracy Yue Wang, 2014. "Tolerance for Failure and Corporate Innovation," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 27(1), pages 211-255, January.
    22. Bronwyn H. Hall & Adam B. Jaffe & Manuel Trajtenberg, 2001. "The NBER Patent Citation Data File: Lessons, Insights and Methodological Tools," NBER Working Papers 8498, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    23. Bronwyn H. Hall, 2005. "Exploring the Patent Explosion," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 30(2_2), pages 35-48, January.
    24. Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), 2010. "Handbook of the Economics of Innovation," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 1, number 1.
    25. Alberto Galasso & Timothy S. Simcoe, 2011. "CEO Overconfidence and Innovation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 57(8), pages 1469-1484, August.
    26. Vivian W. Fang & Xuan Tian & Sheri Tice, 2014. "Does Stock Liquidity Enhance or Impede Firm Innovation?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 69(5), pages 2085-2125, October.
    27. Bargeron, Leonce & Kulchania, Manoj & Thomas, Shawn, 2011. "Accelerated share repurchases," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(1), pages 69-89, July.
    28. Andrei Shleifer & Lawrence H. Summers, 1988. "Breach of Trust in Hostile Takeovers," NBER Chapters, in: Corporate Takeovers: Causes and Consequences, pages 33-68, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    29. Skinner, Douglas J., 2008. "The evolving relation between earnings, dividends, and stock repurchases," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(3), pages 582-609, March.
    30. Brav, Alon & Graham, John R. & Harvey, Campbell R. & Michaely, Roni, 2005. "Payout policy in the 21st century," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(3), pages 483-527, September.
    31. Hall, Bronwyn H. & Lerner, Josh, 2010. "The Financing of R&D and Innovation," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 609-639, Elsevier.
    32. Hillert, Alexander & Maug, Ernst & Obernberger, Stefan, 2016. "Stock repurchases and liquidity," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(1), pages 186-209.
    33. Almeida, Heitor & Fos, Vyacheslav & Kronlund, Mathias, 2016. "The real effects of share repurchases," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(1), pages 168-185.
    34. Ronald W. Masulis & Syed Walid Reza, 2015. "Agency Problems of Corporate Philanthropy," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 28(2), pages 592-636.
    35. Graham, John R. & Harvey, Campbell R. & Rajgopal, Shiva, 2005. "The economic implications of corporate financial reporting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(1-3), pages 3-73, December.
    36. Dongmei Li, 2011. "Financial Constraints, R&D Investment, and Stock Returns," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 24(9), pages 2974-3007.
    37. Barclay, M.J. & Smith, C.W., 1988. "Corporate Payout Policy: Cash Dividencds Versus Open- Market Repurchases," Papers 88-10, Rochester, Business - Managerial Economics Research Center.
    38. Jennifer L. Blouin & Jana Smith Raedy & Douglas A. Shackelford, 2007. "Did Firms Substitute Dividends for Share Repurchases after the 2003 Reductions in Shareholder Tax Rates?," NBER Working Papers 13601, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    39. Hall, Bronwyn H & Ziedonis, Rosemarie Ham, 2001. "The Patent Paradox Revisited: An Empirical Study of Patenting in the U.S. Semiconductor Industry, 1979-1995," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 32(1), pages 101-128, Spring.
    40. Barclay, Michael J. & Smith, Clifford Jr., 1988. "Corporate payout policy : Cash Dividends versus Open-Market Repurchases," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 61-82, October.
    41. Cornaggia, Jess & Mao, Yifei & Tian, Xuan & Wolfe, Brian, 2015. "Does banking competition affect innovation?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(1), pages 189-209.
    42. De Cesari, Amedeo & Espenlaub, Susanne & Khurshed, Arif & Simkovic, Michael, 2012. "The effects of ownership and stock liquidity on the timing of repurchase transactions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 1023-1050.
    43. Holmström, Bengt, 1989. "Agency Costs and Innovation," Working Paper Series 214, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    44. Jagannathan, Murali & Stephens, Clifford P. & Weisbach, Michael S., 2000. "Financial flexibility and the choice between dividends and stock repurchases," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(3), pages 355-384, September.
    45. O’Connor, Matthew & Rafferty, Matthew, 2012. "Corporate Governance and Innovation," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 47(2), pages 397-413, April.
    46. Merton H. Miller & Franco Modigliani, 1961. "Dividend Policy, Growth, and the Valuation of Shares," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34, pages 411-411.
    47. Alon Brav & John R. Graham & Campbell R. Harvey & Roni Michaely, 2008. "Managerial Response to the May 2003 Dividend Tax Cut," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 37(4), pages 611-624, December.
    48. Alice Adams Bonaimé & Kristine Watson Hankins & Jarrad Harford, 2014. "Financial Flexibility, Risk Management, and Payout Choice," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 27(4), pages 1074-1101.
    49. He, Jie (Jack) & Tian, Xuan, 2013. "The dark side of analyst coverage: The case of innovation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(3), pages 856-878.
    50. Banyi, Monica L. & Dyl, Edward A. & Kahle, Kathleen M., 2008. "Errors in estimating share repurchases," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 14(4), pages 460-474, September.
    51. Gustavo Grullon & Roni Michaely, 2002. "Dividends, Share Repurchases, and the Substitution Hypothesis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(4), pages 1649-1684, August.
    52. David Hirshleifer & Angie Low & Siew Hong Teoh, 2012. "Are Overconfident CEOs Better Innovators?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 67(4), pages 1457-1498, August.
    53. Viral V. Acharya & Krishnamurthy V. Subramanian, 2009. "Bankruptcy Codes and Innovation," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(12), pages 4949-4988, December.
    54. Ang, James B., 2014. "Innovation and financial liberalization," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 214-229.
    55. Bens, Daniel A. & Nagar, Venky & Skinner, Douglas J. & Wong, M. H. Franco, 2003. "Employee stock options, EPS dilution, and stock repurchases," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(1-3), pages 51-90, December.
    56. He, Zhaozhao & Wintoki, M. Babajide, 2016. "The cost of innovation: R&D and high cash holdings in U.S. firms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 280-303.
    57. Linnenluecke, Martina K. & Chen, Xiaoyan & Ling, Xin & Smith, Tom & Zhu, Yushu, 2017. "Research in finance: A review of influential publications and a research agenda," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 188-199.
    58. Edwin Elton & Martin Gruber, 1968. "The Effect Of Share Repurchase On The Value Of The Firm," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 23(1), pages 135-149, March.
    59. Chen, Sheng-Syan & Wang, Yanzhi, 2012. "Financial constraints and share repurchases," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(2), pages 311-331.
    60. Luong, Hoang & Moshirian, Fariborz & Nguyen, Lily & Tian, Xuan & Zhang, Bohui, 2017. "How Do Foreign Institutional Investors Enhance Firm Innovation?," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 52(4), pages 1449-1490, August.
    61. Lie, Erik, 2005. "Operating performance following open market share repurchase announcements," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 411-436, September.
    62. Hirshleifer, David & Hsu, Po-Hsuan & Li, Dongmei, 2013. "Innovative efficiency and stock returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(3), pages 632-654.
    63. Alok Bhargava, 2013. "Executive compensation, share repurchases and investment expenditures: econometric evidence from US firms," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 40(3), pages 403-422, April.
    64. Farrell, Kathleen & Unlu, Emre & Yu, Jin, 2014. "Stock repurchases as an earnings management mechanism: The impact of financing constraints," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 1-15.
    65. Chen, Yangyang & Podolski, Edward J. & Rhee, S. Ghon & Veeraraghavan, Madhu, 2014. "Local Gambling Preferences and Corporate Innovative Success," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 49(1), pages 77-106, February.
    66. Raj Chetty & Emmanuel Saez, 2006. "The Effects of the 2003 Dividend Tax Cut on Corporate Behavior: Interpreting the Evidence," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(2), pages 124-129, May.
    67. Jean O. Lanjouw & Mark Schankerman, 2004. "Patent Quality and Research Productivity: Measuring Innovation with Multiple Indicators," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 114(495), pages 441-465, April.
    68. Desai, Mihir A. & Jin, Li, 2011. "Institutional tax clienteles and payout policy," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(1), pages 68-84, April.
    69. James R. Brown & Steven M. Fazzari & Bruce C. Petersen, 2009. "Financing Innovation and Growth: Cash Flow, External Equity, and the 1990s R&D Boom," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(1), pages 151-185, February.
    70. Romer, Paul M, 1987. "Growth Based on Increasing Returns Due to Specialization," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(2), pages 56-62, May.
    71. Steven N. Kaplan & Luigi Zingales, 1997. "Do Investment-Cash Flow Sensitivities Provide Useful Measures of Financing Constraints?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(1), pages 169-215.
    72. Lin, Ji-Chai & Stephens, Clifford P. & Wu, YiLin, 2014. "Limited attention, share repurchases, and takeover risk," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 283-301.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Chang, Juin-Jen & Kuo, Chun-Hung & Lin, Hsieh-Yu & Yang, Shu-Chun S., 2023. "Share buybacks and corporate tax cuts," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    2. Avishek Bhandari & Joanna Golden & Kenton Walker & Joseph H. Zhang, 2022. "The relationship between stock repurchase completion rates, firm reputation and financial reporting quality: a commitment‐trust theory perspective," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(2), pages 2687-2724, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nguyen, Lily & Vu, Le & Yin, Xiangkang, 2020. "The undesirable effect of audit quality: Evidence from firm innovation," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(6).
    2. Hasan, Iftekhar & (Stan) Hoi, Chun-Keung & Wu, Qiang & Zhang, Hao, 2020. "Is social capital associated with corporate innovation? Evidence from publicly listed firms in the U.S," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    3. Lili Dai & Rui Shen & Bohui Zhang, 2021. "Does the media spotlight burn or spur innovation?," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 26(1), pages 343-390, March.
    4. Moshirian, Fariborz & Tian, Xuan & Zhang, Bohui & Zhang, Wenrui, 2021. "Stock market liberalization and innovation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(3), pages 985-1014.
    5. Acharya, Viral & Xu, Zhaoxia, 2017. "Financial dependence and innovation: The case of public versus private firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(2), pages 223-243.
    6. Francis, Bill & Mani, Suresh Babu & Sharma, Zenu & Wu, Qiang, 2021. "The impact of organization capital on firm innovation," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    7. Daniel Bradley & Incheol Kim & Xuan Tian, 2017. "Do Unions Affect Innovation?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(7), pages 2251-2271, July.
    8. Gordon, Elizabeth A. & Hsu, Hsiao-Tang & Huang, Huichi, 2020. "Peer R&D disclosure and corporate innovation: Evidence from American depositary receipt firms," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    9. Adhikari, Binay Kumar & Agrawal, Anup, 2016. "Religion, gambling attitudes and corporate innovation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 229-248.
    10. Qing Wan & Xiaoke Cheng & Kam C. Chan & Shenghao Gao, 2021. "Born to innovate? The birth‐order effect of CEOs on corporate innovation," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(9-10), pages 1846-1888, October.
    11. Alquhaif, Abdulsalam & Al-Gamrh, Bakr & Abdul Latif, Rohaida, 2020. "An overview of share buybacks: A descriptive case from Malaysia," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(C).
    12. Pang, Caiji & Wang, Ying, 2020. "Stock pledge, risk of losing control and corporate innovation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    13. Zhao, Qifeng & Li, Zhen & Yu, Yihua, 2021. "Does top management quality promote innovation? Firm-level evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    14. Chen, Jie & Leung, Woon Sau & Evans, Kevin P., 2016. "Are employee-friendly workplaces conducive to innovation?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 61-79.
    15. Wang, Zigan & Yin, Qie Ellie & Yu, Luping, 2021. "Real effects of share repurchases legalization on corporate behaviors," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(1), pages 197-219.
    16. Hsu, Po-Hsuan & Tian, Xuan & Xu, Yan, 2014. "Financial development and innovation: Cross-country evidence," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(1), pages 116-135.
    17. Glaeser, Stephen, 2018. "The effects of proprietary information on corporate disclosure and transparency: Evidence from trade secrets," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 163-193.
    18. Ramana Nanda & William R. Kerr, 2015. "Financing Innovation," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 7(1), pages 445-462, December.
    19. Chen Lin & Sibo Liu & Gustavo Manso, 2021. "Shareholder Litigation and Corporate Innovation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(6), pages 3346-3367, June.
    20. Mukherjee, Abhiroop & Singh, Manpreet & Žaldokas, Alminas, 2017. "Do corporate taxes hinder innovation?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(1), pages 195-221.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:acctfi:v:61:y:2021:i:s1:p:1665-1695. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aaanzea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.