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Inventory and the Stock Market

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  • Richard Kum-yew Lai

    (Harvard Business School)

Abstract

About inventory models, a concern is 'often made [that] any resemblances between the models constructed and reality are purely coincidental.' One set of factors not usually considered in textbook models of inventory decisions is suggested by well-documented evidence in macroeconomics, that the stock market affects investment decisions. Does the stock market also affect inventory decisions, and how? I study four hypotheses. The first is that the market could be a side-show, with no impact on firms' decisions. The second is that the market influences inventory decisions via a financing channel. When the market over-values firms, firms can get easier and cheaper financing, and tend to increase their inventory. The third is a dissipation channel. When the market over-values firms, firms are less disciplined and let inventories rise. The last is a catering channel. When the market discounts high-inventory firms, firms decrease their inventory, and vice versa. I report evidence that rejects the first, weakly supports the second and third, and strongly supports the fourth hypotheses. This evidence contributes to an emerging area for empirical research, at the intersection of finance and operations management.

Suggested Citation

  • Richard Kum-yew Lai, 2005. "Inventory and the Stock Market," Finance 0509006, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  • Handle: RePEc:wpa:wuwpfi:0509006
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Yang, Jun & Lu, Wei & Zhou, Chunhui, 2014. "The immediate impact of purchasing/sales contract announcements on the market value of firms: An empirical study in China," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 169-179.
    2. Lai, Richard, 2006. "Does Public Infrastructure Reduce Private Inventory?," MPRA Paper 4756, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Elsayed, Khaled & Wahba, Hayam, 2013. "Reinvestigating the relationship between ownership structure and inventory management: A corporate governanceperspective," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(1), pages 207-218.
    4. Chad R. Larson & Danko Turcic & Fuqiang Zhang, 2015. "An Empirical Investigation of Dynamic Ordering Policies," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 61(9), pages 2118-2138, September.
    5. Tribó, Josep A., 2009. "Firms' stock market flotation: Effects on inventory policy," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(1), pages 10-18, March.
    6. Sergey Rumyantsev & Serguei Netessine, 2007. "What Can Be Learned from Classical Inventory Models? A Cross-Industry Exploratory Investigation," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 9(4), pages 409-429, April.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    inventory; stock market; sentiment; operations management;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G3 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance
    • L23 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Organization of Production
    • M11 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Production Management

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