IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ehl/lserod/85963.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Real options models of the firm, capacity overhang, and the cross-section of stock returns

Author

Listed:
  • Aretz, Kevin
  • Pope, Peter F.

Abstract

We use a stochastic frontier model to obtain a stock-level estimate of the difference between a firm's installed production capacity and its optimal capacity. We show that this "capacity overhang" estimate relates significantly negatively to the cross-section of stock returns, even when controlling for popular pricing factors. The negative relation persists among small and large stocks, stocks with more or less reversible investments, and in good and bad economic states. Capacity overhang helps explain momentum and profitability anomalies, but not value and investment anomalies. Our evidence supports real options models of the firm featuring valuable divestment options.

Suggested Citation

  • Aretz, Kevin & Pope, Peter F., 2018. "Real options models of the firm, capacity overhang, and the cross-section of stock returns," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 85963, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
  • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:85963
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/85963/
    File Function: Open access version.
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Avinash K. Dixit & Robert S. Pindyck, 1994. "Investment under Uncertainty," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 5474.
    2. Felipe L. Aguerrevere, 2009. "Real Options, Product Market Competition, and Asset Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(2), pages 957-983, April.
    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. Tanin, Tauhidul Islam & Hasanov, Akram Shavkatovich & Shaiban, Mohammed Sharaf Mohsen & Brooks, Robert, 2022. "Risk transmission from the oil market to Islamic and conventional banks in oil-exporting and oil-importing countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    2. Yayun Ren & Jian Yu & Shuhua Xu & Jiaomei Tang & Chang Zhang, 2023. "Green Finance and Industrial Low-Carbon Transition: Evidence from a Quasi-Natural Experiment in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-17, March.
    3. Ho, Tuan & Kim, Kirak & Li, Yang & Xu, Fangming, 2023. "Can Real Options Explain the Skewness of Stock Returns?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    4. Andrea Gamba & Alessio Saretto, 2022. "Endogenous Option Pricing," Working Papers 2202, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
    5. Penman, Stephen & Zhang, Xiao-Jun, 2020. "A theoretical analysis connecting conservative accounting to the cost of capital," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(1).
    6. Söhnke M. Bartram & Harald Lohre & Peter F. Pope & Ananthalakshmi Ranganathan, 2021. "Navigating the factor zoo around the world: an institutional investor perspective," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 91(5), pages 655-703, July.
    7. Wang, Zhan-ao & Zheng, Chengsi, 2022. "Is technological innovation the cure for overcapacity? Exploring mediating and moderating mechanisms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 348-361.
    8. Ang, Tze Chuan 'Chewie' & Azad, A.S.M. Sohel & Pham, Thu A.T. & Zhong, Angel, 2021. "Firm efficiency and stock returns: Australian evidence," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    9. Sudipta Basu & Eunju (Ivy) Lee, 2022. "Antecedents of and outcomes after finance committee use," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(3-4), pages 491-535, March.
    10. Sarkar, Sudipto & Zhang, Chuanqian, 2020. "Investment and financing decisions with learning-curve technology," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).

    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. Di Corato, Luca & Moretto, Michele & Vergalli, Sergio, 2014. "Long-run investment under uncertain demand," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 80-89.
    2. Chevalier-Roignant, Benoît & Flath, Christoph M. & Huchzermeier, Arnd & Trigeorgis, Lenos, 2011. "Strategic investment under uncertainty: A synthesis," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 215(3), pages 639-650, December.
    3. Aktham I. Maghyereh & Basil Awartani & Osama D. Sweidan, 2019. "Oil price uncertainty and real output growth: new evidence from selected oil-importing countries in the Middle East," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 56(5), pages 1601-1621, May.
    4. Makoto Goto & Katsumasa Nishide & Ryuta Takashima, 2013. "Irreversible Investment under Competition with a Markov Switching Regime," KIER Working Papers 861, Kyoto University, Institute of Economic Research.
    5. Koussis, Nicos & Silaghi, Florina, 2023. "Revenue-sharing and volume flexibility in the supply chain," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 261(C).
    6. Wen, Xingang & Hagspiel, V. & Kort, Peter M., 2017. "Subsidized Capacity Investment under Uncertainty," Other publications TiSEM 4c7a7c87-a34c-4934-a910-5, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    7. Haehl, Christian & Spinler, Stefan, 2020. "Technology Choice under Emission Regulation Uncertainty in International Container Shipping," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 284(1), pages 383-396.
    8. Bhamra, Harjoat S. & Shim, Kyung Hwan, 2017. "Stochastic idiosyncratic cash flow risk and real options: Implications for stock returns," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 400-431.
    9. Laurent Frésard & Philip Valta, 2016. "How Does Corporate Investment Respond to Increased Entry Threat?," The Review of Corporate Finance Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 5(1), pages 1-35.
    10. Li, Xishu & Zuidwijk, Rob & de Koster, M.B.M, 2023. "Optimal competitive capacity strategies: Evidence from the container shipping market," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    11. Lambrecht, Bart M., 2017. "Real options in finance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 166-171.
    12. Huang, Hsing-Hua & Chuang, Wei-Liang, 2013. "Real options game over the business cycle," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 715-721.
    13. Arif Khan, Muhammad & Qin, Xuezhi & Jebran, Khalil & Ullah, Irfan, 2020. "Uncertainty and R&D investment: Does product market competition matter?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    14. Nick Huberts & Kuno Huisman & Peter Kort & Maria Lavrutich, 2015. "Capacity Choice in (Strategic) Real Options Models: A Survey," Dynamic Games and Applications, Springer, vol. 5(4), pages 424-439, December.
    15. Goto, Makoto & Nishide, Katsumasa & Takashima, Ryuta, 2017. "Leaders, followers, and equity risk premiums in booms and busts," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 207-220.
    16. Colombo, Luca & Labrecciosa, Paola, 2021. "A stochastic differential game of duopolistic competition with sticky prices," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    17. Silaghi, Florina & Sarkar, Sudipto, 2021. "Agency problems in public-private partnerships investment projects," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 290(3), pages 1174-1191.
    18. Balter, Anne G. & Huisman, Kuno J.M. & Kort, Peter M., 2022. "New insights in capacity investment under uncertainty," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    19. Rau, Philipp & Spinler, Stefan, 2016. "Investment into container shipping capacity: A real options approach in oligopolistic competition," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 130-147.
    20. Ben Abdallah, Skander & Lasserre, Pierre, 2016. "Asset retirement with infinitely repeated alternative replacements: Harvest age and species choice in forestry," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 144-164.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • M40 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - General

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:ehl:lserod:85963. 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: LSERO Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/lsepsuk.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.