The Industry Life Cycle and Acquisitions and Investment: Does Firm Organization Matter?

We examine the effect of financial dependence on acquisition and investment within existing industries by single-segment and conglomerate firms for industries undergoing different long run changes in industry conditions. Conglomerates and single-segment firms differ more in rates of within-industry acquisitions than in capital expenditure rates, which are similar across organizational type. In particular, 36 percent of within-industry growth by conglomerate firms in growth industries is from intra-industry acquisitions, compared to nine percent for single segment firms. Financial dependence, a deficit in a segment%u2019s internal financing, decreases the likelihood of within-industry acquisitions and opening new plants, especially for single-segment firms. These effects are mitigated for conglomerates in growth industries. The findings persist after controlling for firm size and segment productivity. Acquisitions lead to increased efficiency as plants acquired by conglomerate firms in growth industries increase in productivity post acquisition. The results are consistent with the comparative advantages of different firm organizations differing across long-run industry conditions.

Institutions, financial markets, and firms'choice of debt maturity

This report examines the maturity of liabilities in firms in thirty developed and developing countries between 1980 and 1991. It finds systematic differences in the use of long-term debt between developed and developing countries, and between small and large firms. The authors attempt to explain the observed cross-country leverage and maturity variations by differences in their legal systems, financial institutions, government subsidy levels, firm characteristics, and in macroeconomic factors, such as the inflation rate and the economy's growth rate. The report provides evidence confirming that firms in developing countries have less long-term debt, even after accounting for their characteristics. This lack of term finance is mainly owing to institutional differences, such as the extent of government subsidies, the different level of development for stock markets and banks, and the differences in the underlying legal infrastructure. The report indicates that while policies that help develop legal and financial infrastructure are effective in increasing firm access to long-term debt, different policies would be necessary to lengthen the debt maturity of large and small firms. Improvements in legal efficacy seem to benefit all firms, although this result is much less significant for the smallest firms, which have limited access to the legal system. Similarly, policies that would help improve the functioning and liquidity of stock markets, would also mostly benefit large firms. In contrast, policies that would lead to improvements in the development of the banking system would improve the access of smaller firms to long-term credit.Banks&Banking Reform,Economic Theory&Research,Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Financial Intermediation,Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Banks&Banking Reform,Financial Intermediation,Environmental Economics&Policies,Housing Finance

Financial constraints, uses of funds, and firm growth : an international comparison

The authors focus on two issues. First they examine whether firms in different countries finance long-term and short term investment similarly. Second, they investigate whether differences in financial systems and legal institutions across countries are reflected in the ability of firms to grow faster than they might have by relying on their internal resources or short term borrowing. Across their sample they find: a) positive correlations between investment in plant and equipment and retained earnings; b) negative correlations between investment in plant and equipment and external financing; c) negative correlations between investment in short-term assets and retained earnings; and d) positive correlations between investments in short term assets and external financing. These findings suggest that financial markets and intermediaries have a comparative advantage in funding short-term investment. For each firm they estimate a predicted growth rate if it does not rely on long-term external financing. They show that the proportion of firms that grow faster than the predicted rate in each country is associated with specific features of the legal system, financial markets, and institutions. An active stock market and high scores on an index of respect for legal norms are associated with faster than predicted rates of firm growth. They present evidence that the law-and-order index measures the ability of creditors and debtors to enter into long-term contracts. Government subsidies to industry do not increase the proportion of firms growing faster than predicted.Economic Theory&Research,International Terrorism&Counterterrorism,Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Financial Intermediation,Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Financial Intermediation,International Terrorism&Counterterrorism,Environmental Economics&Policies,Banks&Banking Reform

Stock market development and firm financing choices

The authors empirically analyze the association between firm financing choices and the level of development of financial markets in 30 countries for the period 1980-91. For the whole sample, there is a statistically significant negative correlation between stock market development, as measured by the ratio of market capitalization to gross domestic product, and the ratios of both long-term and short-term debt to firms'total equity. For developed markets in the sample, further stock market development leads to a substitution of equity for debt financing. In developing markets, by contrast, large firms become more leveraged as the stock market develops, whereas the smallest firms appear not to be significantly affected by market development.Banks&Banking Reform,Economic Theory&Research,Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Financial Intermediation,International Terrorism&Counterterrorism,Economic Theory&Research,Financial Intermediation,Banks&Banking Reform,Housing Finance,Environmental Economics&Policies

Funding growth in bank-based and market-based financial systems : evidence from firm level data

The authors investigate whether firms'access to external financing, to fund growth differs between market-based, and bank-based financial systems. Using firm-level data for forty countries, they compute the proportion of firms in each country that relies on external finance, and examine how that proportion differs across financial systems. They find that the development of a country's legal system predicts access to external finance, and that stock markets, and the banking system have different effects on access to external markets. The development of securities markets is related more to the availability of long-term financing, whereas the development of the banking sector is related more to the availability of short-term financing. They find no evidence, however, that firms'access to external financing is predicted by an index of the development of stock markets, relative to the development of the banking system.Economic Theory&Research,Banks&Banking Reform,Payment Systems&Infrastructure,International Terrorism&Counterterrorism,Labor Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Governance Indicators,Banks&Banking Reform,Financial Intermediation,Information Technology

Firms as financial intermediaries - evidence from trade credit data

The authors argue that non-financial firms act as intermediaries, by channeling short-term funds from the financial institutions in an economy, to their best use. Non-financial firms act in this way because they may have a comparative advantage in exploiting informal means of ensuring that borrowers repay. These considerations suggest that to optimally exploit their advantage in providing trade credit to some classes of borrowers, firms should obtain external financing from financial intermediaries, and markets, when this is efficient. Thus the existence of a large banking system is consistent with these considerations. Using firm-level data for thirty nine countries, the authors compute turnovers in payables, and receivables, and examine how they differ across financial systems. They find that the development level of a country's legal infrastructure, and banking system predicts the use of trade credit. Firms'use of bank debt is higher relative to their use of trade credit in countries with efficient legal systems. Bur firms in countries with large, privately owned banking systems, offer more financing to their customers, and take more financing from them. The authors'findings suggest that trade credit is a complement to lending by financial intermediaries, and should not be viewed by policymakers as a substitute.Economic Theory&Research,Payment Systems&Infrastructure,International Terrorism&Counterterrorism,Environmental Economics&Policies,Banks&Banking Reform,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Banks&Banking Reform,Financial Intermediation,Financial Crisis Management&Restructuring

The determinants of financing obstacles

The authors use survey data on a sample of over 10,000 firms from 80 countries to assess (1) how successful a priori classifications are in distinguishing between financially constrained and unconstrained firms, and (2) more generally, the determinants of financing obstacles of firms. They find that older, larger, and foreign-owned firms report less financing obstacles. Their findings thus confirm the usefulness of size, age, and ownership as a priori classifications of financing constraints, while they shed doubts on other classifications used in the literature. Their results also suggest that institutional development is the most important country characteristic explaining cross-country variation in firms'financing obstacles.Microfinance,Financial Intermediation,Small and Medium Size Enterprises,Small Scale Enterprise,Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Financial Intermediation,National Governance,Microfinance,Private Participation in Infrastructure,Small Scale Enterprise

Capital structures in developing countries : evidence from ten countries

The authors investigate capital structures in a sample of the largest publicly traded firms in ten developing countries - Brazil, India, Jordan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Thailand, Turkey, and Zimbabwe - for 1980 - 91. The firms in the sample are smaller than comparable U.S. firms, and the financial systems and regulations in these countries differ significantly from those in the United States. Not every country has well-functioning liquid financial markets in which investors can diversify risks. Nor do all countries have efficient legal systems in which a broad range of property rights can be enforced. Still, variables that predict capital structures in the United States also predict choices of capital structures in the countries sampled. Variables suggested by agency theory explain more of the variation than variables suggested by tax-based theories. For both short-term and long-term equations in most countries, the asset structure, liquidity, and industry effects have more explanatory power than firm size, growth opportunities, and tax effects. In several countries, total indebtedness is negatively related to net fixed assets, suggesting that markets for long-term debt do not function effectively.Economic Theory&Research,Banks&Banking Reform,Environmental Economics&Policies,International Terrorism&Counterterrorism,Financial Intermediation

Firm innovation in emerging markets : the roles of governance and finance

The authors investigate the determinants of firm innovation in over 19,000 firms across 47 developing economies. They define the innovation process broadly, to include not only core innovation such as the introduction of new products and new technologies, but also other types of activities that promote knowledge transfers and adapt production processes. The authors find that more innovative firms are large exporting firms characterized by private ownership, highly educated managers with mid-level managerial experience, and access to external finance. In contrast, firms that do not innovate much are typically state-owned firms without foreign competitors. The identity of the controlling shareholder seems to be particularly important for core innovation, with those private firms whose controlling shareholder is a financial institution being the least innovative. While the use of external finance is associated with greater innovation by all private firms, it does not make state-owned firms more innovative. Financing from foreign banks is associated with higher levels of innovation compared with financing from domestic banks.Education for Development (superceded),Microfinance,Small Scale Enterprise,Investment and Investment Climate,Innovation

Do Phoenix miracles exist ? firm-level evidence from financial crises

This paper provides empirical evidence on firm recoveries from financial system collapses in developing countries (systemic sudden stops episodes), and compares them with the experience in the United States in the 2008 financial crisis. Prior research found that economies recover from systemic sudden stop episodes before the financial sector. These recoveries are called Phoenix miracles, and the research questioned the role of the financial system in recovery. Although an average of the macro data across a sample of systemic sudden stop episodes over the 1990s appears consistent with the notion of Phoenix recoveries, closer inspection reveals heterogeneity of responses across the countries, with only a few countries fitting the pattern. Micro data show that across countries, only a small fraction (less than 31 percent) of firms follow a pattern of recovery in sales without a recovery in external credit, and even these firms have access to external sources of cash. The experience of firms in the United States during the 2008 financial crisis also suggests no evidence of credit-less recoveries. An examination of the dynamics of firms'financing, investment and payout policies during recovery periods shows that far from being constrained, the firms in the sample are able to access long-term financing, issue equity, and significantly expand their cash holdings.Debt Markets,Access to Finance,Bankruptcy and Resolution of Financial Distress,Emerging Markets,Economic Theory&Research