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Geographic diversification and firm value in the financial services industry

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  • Schmid, Markus M.
  • Walter, Ingo

Abstract

This paper investigates whether geographic diversification is value-enhancing or value-destroying in the financial services sector, broadly defined. Our dataset comprises approximately 3579 observations over the period from 1985 to 2004 and covers the entire range of U.S. financial intermediaries — commercial banks, investment banks, insurance companies, asset managers, and financial infrastructure services firms. We use two alternative measures of geographic diversification: (1) a dummy variable whether the firm reports more than one geographic segment and (2) the percentage of sales from non-domestic operations. Our results indicate that geographic diversification is not associated with a significant valuation discount in financial intermediaries. However, when accounting for the firms' main activity-areas, we find evidence of a significant discount associated with geographic diversification in securities firms and a premium in credit intermediaries and insurance companies. All these results are robust after taking into account functional diversification of the firms, a potential endogeneity of both functional and geographic diversification, and a potential value transfer from equity to debt holders by using estimates of the market value of debt.

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  • Schmid, Markus M. & Walter, Ingo, 2012. "Geographic diversification and firm value in the financial services industry," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 109-122.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:empfin:v:19:y:2012:i:1:p:109-122
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jempfin.2011.11.003
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    Cited by:

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    2. Huirui Zhang & Sanbao Zhang, 2022. "How Does the Sustainable Investment Climate Affect Firm Geographic Diversification in China? Managerial Discretion as a Mediator," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-16, February.
    3. Lee, Chien-Chiang & Chiu, Yi-Bin, 2016. "Globalization and insurance activity: Evidence on the industrial and emerging countries," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 328-349.
    4. Jouida, Sameh & Hellara, Slaheddine, 2018. "Diversification and target leverage of financial institutions," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 11-35.
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    6. Yildirim, Canan & Kasman, Adnan & Gulamhussen, Mohamed Azzim, 2023. "Efficiency of multinational banks: Impacts of geographic and product loci," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(5).
    7. Kathy Estes, 2014. "Diversification and Community Bank Performanceduringa Financial Crisis," International Journal of Finance & Banking Studies, Center for the Strategic Studies in Business and Finance, vol. 3(4), pages 01-40, October.
    8. Hornstein, Abigail S. & Nguyen, Zachary, 2014. "Is more less? Propensity to diversify via M&A and market reactions," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 76-88.
    9. Rashid Mehmood & Ahmed Imran Hunjra & Muhammad Irfan Chani, 2019. "The Impact of Corporate Diversification and Financial Structure on Firm Performance: Evidence from South Asian Countries," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-17, March.
    10. Frederick, Joshua D. & Fung, Derrick W.H. & Yang, Charles C. & Yeh, Jason J.H., 2022. "Individual health insurance reforms in the U.S.: Expanding interstate markets, Medicare for all, or Medicaid for all?," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 297(2), pages 753-765.
    11. Jouida, Sameh & Bouzgarrou, Houssam & Hellara, Slaheddine, 2017. "The effects of activity and geographic diversification on performance: Evidence from French financial institutions," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(PB), pages 920-939.
    12. 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.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Geographic diversification; Functional diversification; Organizational structure; Financial intermediaries; Firm valuation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G20 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - General
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance

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