IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ibf/ijbfre/v5y2011i4p99-113.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does Firm Diversification Represent A Value Added For Stockholders?

Author

Listed:
  • Juan Otero-Serrano

Abstract

This study empirically tests the effect of diversification on firm performance, controlling for factors influencing returns other than diversification. This study also investigates if the diversification effect has the same impact on firm performance at different points in time. The sample used consists of all firms with available data from Compustat Industry Segment Database and Research Files for the period between 1979 and 2006. Carhart (1997) four-factor model results suggest that diversification is related to firm performance. Diversified firms show a general trend of underperforming non-diversified firms. Results also suggest that the diversification effect may change through time. The evidence presented may help managers and stockholders in considering the effects of diversification on firm value when making decisions.

Suggested Citation

  • Juan Otero-Serrano, 2011. "Does Firm Diversification Represent A Value Added For Stockholders?," The International Journal of Business and Finance Research, The Institute for Business and Finance Research, vol. 5(4), pages 99-113.
    • Handle: RePEc:ibf:ijbfre:v:5:y:2011:i:4:p:99-113
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.theibfr2.com/RePEc/ibf/ijbfre/ijbfr-v5n4-2011/IJBFR-V5N4-2011-8.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hill, C W L, 1983. "Conglomerate Performance over the Economic Cycle," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(2), pages 197-211, December.
    2. Stein, Jeremy C, 1997. "Internal Capital Markets and the Competition for Corporate Resources," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(1), pages 111-133, March.
    3. Owen A. Lamont & Christopher Polk, 2001. "The Diversification Discount: Cash Flows Versus Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 56(5), pages 1693-1721, October.
    4. Berger, Philip G & Ofek, Eli, 1999. "Causes and Effects of Corporate Refocusing Programs," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 12(2), pages 311-345.
    5. Fauver, Larry & Houston, Joel & Naranjo, Andy, 2003. "Capital Market Development, International Integration, Legal Systems, and the Value of Corporate Diversification: A Cross-Country Analysis," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 38(1), pages 135-158, March.
    6. David J. Denis & Diane K. Denis & Keven Yost, 2002. "Global Diversification, Industrial Diversification, and Firm Value," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(5), pages 1951-1979, October.
    7. Stulz, ReneM., 1990. "Managerial discretion and optimal financing policies," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 3-27, July.
    8. Raghuram Rajan & Henri Servaes & Luigi Zingales, 2000. "The Cost of Diversity: The Diversification Discount and Inefficient Investment," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(1), pages 35-80, February.
    9. Carhart, Mark M, 1997. "On Persistence in Mutual Fund Performance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(1), pages 57-82, March.
    10. David Hyland & J David Diltz, 2002. "Why Firms Diversify: An Empirical Examination," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 31(1), Spring.
    11. Hadlock, Charles J & Ryngaert, Michael & Thomas, Shawn, 2001. "Corporate Structure and Equity Offerings: Are There Benefits to Diversification?," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 74(4), pages 613-635, October.
    12. Toni M. Whited, 2001. "Is It Inefficient Investment that Causes the Diversification Discount?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 56(5), pages 1667-1691, October.
    13. David S. Scharfstein & Jeremy C. Stein, 2000. "The Dark Side of Internal Capital Markets: Divisional Rent‐Seeking and Inefficient Investment," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(6), pages 2537-2564, December.
    14. Belén Villalonga, 2004. "Does Diversification Cause the "Diversification Discount"?," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 33(2), Summer.
    15. Jose Manuel Campa & Simi Kedia, 2002. "Explaining the Diversification Discount," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(4), pages 1731-1762, August.
    16. M. Harris & C. H. Kriebel & A. Raviv, 1982. "Asymmetric Information, Incentives and Intrafirm Resource Allocation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(6), pages 604-620, June.
    17. Matsusaka, John G, 2001. "Corporate Diversification, Value Maximization, and Organizational Capabilities," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 74(3), pages 409-431, July.
    18. McGahan, Anita M, 1999. "The Performance of US Corporations: 1981-1994," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(4), pages 373-398, December.
    19. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 1993. "Common risk factors in the returns on stocks and bonds," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 3-56, February.
    20. Billett, Matthew T. & Mauer, David C., 2000. "Diversification and the value of internal capital markets: The case of tracking stock," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 24(9), pages 1457-1490, September.
    21. Sattar A. Mansi & David M. Reeb, 2002. "Corporate Diversification: What Gets Discounted?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(5), pages 2167-2183, October.
    22. Antoinette Schoar, 2002. "Effects of Corporate Diversification on Productivity," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(6), pages 2379-2403, December.
    23. Servaes, Henri, 1996. "The Value of Diversification during the Conglomerate Merger Wave," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 51(4), pages 1201-1225, September.
    24. Fama, Eugene F & French, Kenneth R, 1996. "Multifactor Explanations of Asset Pricing Anomalies," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 51(1), pages 55-84, March.
    25. Elton, Edwin J & Gruber, Martin J & Blake, Christopher R, 1996. "The Persistence of Risk-Adjusted Mutual Fund Performance," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 69(2), pages 133-157, April.
    26. Jensen, Michael C, 1988. "Takeovers: Their Causes and Consequences," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 2(1), pages 21-48, Winter.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Stefan Erdorf & Thomas Hartmann-Wendels & Nicolas Heinrichs & Michael Matz, 2013. "Corporate diversification and firm value: a survey of recent literature," Financial Markets and Portfolio Management, Springer;Swiss Society for Financial Market Research, vol. 27(2), pages 187-215, June.
    2. Glaser, Markus & Müller, Sebastian, 2006. "Der Diversification Discount in Deutschland : existiert ein Bewertungsabschlag für diversifizierte Unternehmen?," Papers 06-13, Sonderforschungsbreich 504.
    3. Glaser, Markus & Müller, Sebastian, 2006. "Der Diversification Discount in Deutschland: Existiert ein Bewertungsabschlag für diversifizierte Unternehmen?," Sonderforschungsbereich 504 Publications 06-13, Sonderforschungsbereich 504, Universität Mannheim;Sonderforschungsbereich 504, University of Mannheim.
    4. Gönül Çolak, 2010. "Diversification, Refocusing and Firm Value," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 16(3), pages 422-448, June.
    5. Andreou, Panayiotis C. & Doukas, John A. & Koursaros, Demetris & Louca, Christodoulos, 2019. "Valuation effects of overconfident CEOs on corporate diversification and refocusing decisions," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 182-204.
    6. Jose Manuel Campa & Simi Kedia, 2002. "Explaining the Diversification Discount," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(4), pages 1731-1762, August.
    7. Ma. Belén Lozano García & Alberto de Miguel Hidalgo & Diana Monserrat Ríos Rodríguez, 2013. "Responsible Diversification: Knowing Enough About Diversification To Do It Responsibly: Motives, Measures And Consequences," Annales Universitatis Apulensis Series Oeconomica, Faculty of Sciences, "1 Decembrie 1918" University, Alba Iulia, vol. 1(15), pages 1-19.
    8. David Hyland, 2008. "The long-run performance of diversifying firms," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 32(3), pages 294-310, July.
    9. Kim, Sehoon, 2020. "Disappearing Discounts: Hedge Fund Activism in Conglomerates," MPRA Paper 100876, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Aivazian, Varouj A. & Qiu, Jiaping & Rahaman, Mohammad M., 2015. "Bank loan contracting and corporate diversification: Does organizational structure matter to lenders?," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 252-282.
    11. Elif AKBEN SELCUK, 2014. "Corporate Diversification, Group Affiliation and Firm Value: Evidence From Turkey," Journal of BRSA Banking and Financial Markets, Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency, vol. 8(2), pages 151-174.
    12. van Lelyveld, Iman & Knot, Klaas, 2009. "Do financial conglomerates create or destroy value? Evidence for the EU," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(12), pages 2312-2321, December.
    13. Patrick Bielstein & Mario Fischer & Christoph Kaserer, 2018. "The cost of capital effect of M&A transactions: Disentangling coinsurance from the diversification discount," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 24(4), pages 650-679, September.
    14. Harper, Joel T. & Iyer, Subramanian Rama & Nejadmalayeri, Ali, 2017. "Diversification discount and investor sentiment," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 218-236.
    15. Marinelli, Federico, 2008. "Persistence of outstanding performance and shareholder value among diversified firms: The impact of past performance, efficient internal capital market, and relatedness of business segments," IESE Research Papers D/758, IESE Business School.
    16. Hovakimian, Gayané, 2016. "Excess value and restructurings by diversified firms," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 1-19.
    17. Sheng‐Syan Chen, 2008. "Organizational Form and the Economic Impact of Corporate New Product Strategies," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(1‐2), pages 71-101, January.
    18. Farooqi, Javeria & Huerta, Daniel & Ngo, Thanh, 2015. "Should you globally diversify or let the globally diversified firm do it for you?," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 75-85.
    19. Campa, Jose M. & Chang, P. H. Kevin & Refalo, James F., 2002. "An options-based analysis of emerging market exchange rate expectations: Brazil's Real Plan, 1994-1999," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 227-253, October.
    20. Alhenawi, Yasser & Krishnaswami, Sudha, 2015. "Long-term impact of merger synergies on performance and value," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 93-118.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Diversification strategy; firm performance;

    JEL classification:

    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance

    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:ibf:ijbfre:v:5:y:2011:i:4:p:99-113. 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: Mercedes Jalbert (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.