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Does product market competition reduce agency costs?

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  • Jagannathan, Ravi
  • Srinivasan, Shaker B.

Abstract

The folk wisdom is that competition reduces agency costs. We provide indirect empirical support for this view. We argue that the temptation to retain cash and engage in less productive activities is more severe for firms in less competitive industries. Hence an unanticipated increase in cash-flow due to higher past returns is more likely to lead to a reduction in leverage as well as a lowering of future returns for firms in less competitive environments. Current leverage will therefore be negatively related to past returns and positively related to future returns for such firms. In contrast, for firms in more competitive industries, the negative relation between past returns and current leverage will be attenuated. Theory suggests that the relation between current leverage and future returns for such firms will be zero or negative. Using a proxy to distinguish firms in less competitive industries and data for 165 single business firms in the U.S.A., we provide empirical supports for our arguments.
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  • Jagannathan, Ravi & Srinivasan, Shaker B., 1999. "Does product market competition reduce agency costs?," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 387-399.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecofin:v:10:y:1999:i:2:p:387-399
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    Cited by:

    1. Schiantarelli, Fabio, 2005. "Product Market Regulation and Macroeconomic Performance: A Review of Cross Country Evidence," IZA Discussion Papers 1791, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
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    5. Mark J. Roe, 2001. "Les conditions politiques au développement de la firme managériale," Revue Finance Contrôle Stratégie, revues.org, vol. 4(1), pages 123-182, March.
    6. Sultan Sikandar Mirza & Tanveer Ahsan & Raheel Safdar & Ajid Ur Rehman, 2020. "Competition, Debt Maturity, and Adjustment Speed in China: A Dynamic Fractional Estimation Approach," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-17, May.
    7. Gaëtan Nicodème & Jacques-Bernard Sauner-Leroy, 2007. "Product Market Reforms and Productivity: A Review of the Theoretical and Empirical Literature on the Transmission Channels," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 53-72, March.
    8. Mark Roe, 2002. "Les rentes et leurs conséquences en matière de gouvernance des entreprises," Revue Finance Contrôle Stratégie, revues.org, vol. 5(1), pages 167-215, March.
    9. Jacques-Bernard Sauner-Leroy, 2003. "The impact of the implementation of the Single Market Programme on productive efficiency and on mark-ups in the European Union manufacturing industry," European Economy - Economic Papers 2008 - 2015 192, Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission.
    10. Rachel Griffith & Rupert Harisson, 2004. "The link between product market reform and macro-economic performance," European Economy - Economic Papers 2008 - 2015 209, Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission.
    11. Bushman, Robert M. & Smith, Abbie J., 2001. "Financial accounting information and corporate governance," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(1-3), pages 237-333, December.
    12. Istaitieh, Abdulaziz & Rodriguez-Fernandez, Jose M., 2006. "Factor-product markets and firm's capital structure: A literature review," Review of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 49-75.
    13. Ennasri, Ahmed & Willinger, Marc, 2014. "Incentives and managerial effort under competitive pressure: An experiment," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(4), pages 324-337.
    14. Yu, Huaibing, 2024. "Why isn't composite equity issuance favored by the stock market? A risk-based explanation for the anomaly," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    15. T. Franck & N. Huyghebaert, 2004. "On the Interactions between Capital Structure and Product Markets.A Survey of the Literature," Review of Business and Economic Literature, KU Leuven, Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), Review of Business and Economic Literature, vol. 0(4), pages 727-787.
    16. Babar, Md. & Habib, Ahsan, 2021. "Product market competition in accounting, finance, and corporate governance: A review of the literature," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    17. Ahmed Ennasri, 2010. "Incitations Managériales et Concurrence : Synthèse de la Littérature," Studies and Syntheses 10-03, LAMETA, Universtiy of Montpellier, revised Oct 2010.
    18. Yeh, Yin-Hua & Liao, Chen-Chieh, 2020. "The impact of product market competition and internal corporate governance on family succession," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    19. Datta, Sudip & Iskandar-Datta, Mai & Singh, Vivek, 2013. "Product market power, industry structure, and corporate earnings management," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 3273-3285.
    20. Hashem Valipour & Javad Moradi & Ehsan Heshmatzade, 2013. "Studying the Effect of Market Competition on the Auditing Fees and the Operational Costs Efficiency as the Agency Costs Indexes," International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, vol. 3(3), pages 95-104, July.
    21. Wu, Fang & Cao, June & Zhang, Xiaosan, 2023. "Do non-executive employees matter in curbing corporate financial fraud?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    22. Syrine Sassi & Narjess Toumi, 2018. "Product market competition and analyst following," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 22(1), pages 55-88, March.
    23. Shen-Ho Chang end Fu-Cheng Chang, 2020. "Impact of Labor and Capital Investment on Investor Idiosyncratic Risk," Advances in Management and Applied Economics, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 10(3), pages 1-5.
    24. Leventis, Stergios & Weetman, Pauline & Caramanis, Constantinos, 2011. "Agency costs and product market competition: The case of audit pricing in Greece," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 112-119.

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