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Firm Rigidities and the Decline in Growth Opportunities

Author

Listed:
  • Claudio Loderer

    (Swiss Finance Institute, 8006 Zurich, Switzerland; University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland; European Corporate Governance Institute, 1000 Brussels, Belgium; and University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627)

  • René Stulz

    (Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210; European Corporate Governance Institute, 1000 Brussels, Belgium; and National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138)

  • Urs Waelchli

    (Rochester-Bern Executive Programs, 3012 Bern, Switzerland; and University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627)

Abstract

As public firms exploit their growth opportunities following their initial public offering, their assets in place increase, and they organize themselves optimally to operate these assets efficiently, which requires a more formal and less flexible organization than to generate new growth opportunities. Our theory predicts that, as a result of these inflexibilities, firms fail to fully replace their growth opportunities, so that their Tobin’s q falls with age and they invest less as they grow older. With our theory, competition in the market for corporate control and capital markets monitoring increase the rate of decrease in Tobin’s q , while product and labor market competition slow it down. We find empirical support for these predictions. We also find evidence that the decline in q is related to firm rigidities.

Suggested Citation

  • Claudio Loderer & René Stulz & Urs Waelchli, 2017. "Firm Rigidities and the Decline in Growth Opportunities," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(9), pages 3000-3020, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:63:y:2017:i:9:p:3000-3020
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2016.2478
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