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Impact of Financial Leverage on the Incidence and Severity of Product Failures: Evidence from Product Recalls

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  • Omesh Kini
  • Jaideep Shenoy
  • Venkat Subramaniam

Abstract

We study the impact of the financial condition of firms on firms’ ability to produce safer products that result in fewer recalls. Using a variety of tests, including two quasi-natural experiments that result in exogenous negative industry cash-flow shocks, we find that firms with higher leverage or distress likelihood have a greater probability of a product recall. These firms also face more frequent and severe recalls. Further, firms with more debt due at the onset of the financial crisis experience a greater likelihood and frequency of recalls. We conclude that a firm’s financial condition has real effects that impact product safety.

Suggested Citation

  • Omesh Kini & Jaideep Shenoy & Venkat Subramaniam, 2017. "Impact of Financial Leverage on the Incidence and Severity of Product Failures: Evidence from Product Recalls," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 30(5), pages 1790-1829.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:rfinst:v:30:y:2017:i:5:p:1790-1829.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/rfs/hhw092
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Lee, Kyeong Hun & Mauer, David C. & Xu, Emma Q., 2022. "Selling durables: Financial flexibility for limited cost pass-through," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    2. Liu, Yongjiu & Liu, Junyan & Dong, Peiling, 2023. "VAT rate cut and enterprise deleveraging: Evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 1254-1266.
    3. Hannah Oh & John Bae & Sang‐Joon Kim & Ryan Choi, 2019. "Product recall as a way of responsible management of a firm: The roles of corporate social responsibility and board members' sense of ownership," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(4), pages 902-915, July.
    4. El Ghoul, Sadok & Guedhami, Omrane & Kwok, Chuck C.Y. & Zheng, Ying, 2019. "Collectivism and the costs of high leverage," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 227-245.
    5. Astvansh, Vivek & Eshghi, Kamran, 2023. "The effects of regulatory investigation, supplier defect, and product age on stock investors’ reaction to an automobile recall," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    6. Bae, Kee-Hong & El Ghoul, Sadok & Guedhami, Omrane & Kwok, Chuck C.Y. & Zheng, Ying, 2019. "Does corporate social responsibility reduce the costs of high leverage? Evidence from capital structure and product market interactions," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 135-150.
    7. Omesh Kini & Mo Shen & Jaideep Shenoy & Venkat Subramaniam, 2022. "Labor Unions and Product Quality Failures," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(7), pages 5403-5440, July.
    8. Vivek Astvansh & Yen‐Yao Wang & Wei Shi, 2022. "The effects of the news media on a firm's voluntary product recalls," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 31(11), pages 4223-4244, November.
    9. Inge van den Bijgaart & Davide Cerruti, 2020. "The effect of information on market activity; evidence from vehicle recalls," CER-ETH Economics working paper series 20/343, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich.
    10. Sertsios, Giorgo, 2020. "Corporate finance, industrial organization, and organizational economics," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    11. Hao, Ying & Li, Junyi & Ni, Juan & Yin, Ziqi, 2023. "Can military executives improve corporate performance? Evidence from industrial competitive pressure," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    12. Arena, Matteo P., 2018. "Corporate litigation and debt," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 202-215.
    13. Manuel Adelino & Katharina Lewellen & W. Ben McCartney, 2022. "Hospital Financial Health and Clinical Choices: Evidence from the Financial Crisis," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(3), pages 2098-2119, March.
    14. Sadok El Ghoul & Omrane Guedhami & Chuck C Y Kwok & Ying Zheng, 2021. "The role of creditor rights on capital structure and product market interactions: International evidence," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 52(1), pages 121-147, February.
    15. Ine Paeleman & Nadja Guenster & Tom Vanacker & Ana Cristina O. Siqueira, 2024. "The Consequences of Financial Leverage: Certified B Corporations’ Advantages Compared to Common Commercial Firms," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 189(3), pages 507-523, January.
    16. Agarwal, Manoj K. & Ma, Zecong & Park, Chang Hee & Zheng, Yilong, 2022. "The impact of a manufacturer’s financial liquidity on its market strategies and pricing and promotion decisions in retail grocery markets," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 844-857.
    17. Ren, Junqiushi, 2023. "Financial conditions and incumbent quality responses to entry: Evidence from airlines' on-time performance," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    18. Dang, Viet A. & De Cesari, Amedeo & Phan, Hieu V., 2021. "Employment protection and share repurchases: Evidence from wrongful discharge laws," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    19. Malik, Mahfuja & Jebari, Fatima, 2023. "Product recall and CEO compensation: Evidence from the automobile industry," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    20. Friedrich, Benjamin U. & Zator, Michał, 2023. "Flexibility costs of debt: Danish exporters during the cartoon crisis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 148(2), pages 91-117.
    21. Taylor A Begley & Daniel Weagley, 2023. "Firm Finances and the Spread of COVID-19: Evidence from Nursing Homes," The Review of Corporate Finance Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 12(1), pages 1-35.
    22. Zavala, Araceli & Ramirez-Marquez, Jose Emmanuel, 2019. "Visual analytics for identifying product disruptions and effects via social media," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 208(C), pages 544-559.
    23. Jonathan Cohn & Tatyana Deryugina, 2018. "Firm-Level Financial Resources and Environmental Spills," NBER Working Papers 24516, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    24. Yang, Jingyi & Shi, Daqian & Yang, Wenbo, 2022. "Stringent environmental regulation and capital structure: The effect of NEPL on deleveraging the high polluting firms," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 643-656.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General
    • G31 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Capital Budgeting; Fixed Investment and Inventory Studies
    • G33 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Bankruptcy; Liquidation
    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • L15 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Information and Product Quality

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