IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finana/v51y2017icp16-24.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Strategic growth option, uncertainty, and R&D investment

Author

Listed:
  • Vo, Lai Van
  • Le, Huong Thi Thu

Abstract

This paper investigates the effect of uncertainty on R&D investment. We find that firms invest more in R&D when they face higher uncertainty, as measured by idiosyncratic return volatility. We further show that the effect is more pronounced for firms in more competitive industries as well as for firms whose products have less market power. Overall, our findings support the theory of strategic growth option in which firms under competition follow preemptive strategy when they face high uncertainty.

Suggested Citation

  • Vo, Lai Van & Le, Huong Thi Thu, 2017. "Strategic growth option, uncertainty, and R&D investment," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 16-24.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finana:v:51:y:2017:i:c:p:16-24
    DOI: 10.1016/j.irfa.2017.03.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S105752191730039X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.irfa.2017.03.002?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lin, Xiaoji, 2012. "Endogenous technological progress and the cross-section of stock returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(2), pages 411-427.
    2. Nick Bloom, 2007. "Uncertainty and the Dynamics of R&D," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(2), pages 250-255, May.
    3. Michael Salinger & Lawrence H. Summers, 1983. "Tax Reform and Corporate Investment: A Microeconometric Simulation Study," NBER Chapters, in: Behavioral Simulation Methods in Tax Policy Analysis, pages 247-288, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Andrew B. Abel & Avinash K. Dixit & Janice B. Eberly & Robert S. Pindyck, "undated". "Options, the Value of Capital, and Investment," Rodney L. White Center for Financial Research Working Papers 15-95, Wharton School Rodney L. White Center for Financial Research.
    5. Dirk Czarnitzki & Andrew A. Toole, 2011. "Patent Protection, Market Uncertainty, and R&D Investment," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 93(1), pages 147-159, February.
    6. Andrew B. Abel & Janice C. Eberly, 1996. "Optimal Investment with Costly Reversibility," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 63(4), pages 581-593.
    7. Gordon M. Phillips & Alexei Zhdanov, 2013. "R&D and the Incentives from Merger and Acquisition Activity," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 26(1), pages 34-78.
    8. Bronwyn H. Hall & Adam Jaffe & Manuel Trajtenberg, 2005. "Market Value and Patent Citations," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 36(1), pages 16-38, Spring.
    9. Ľuboš Pástor & Veronesi Pietro, 2003. "Stock Valuation and Learning about Profitability," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(5), pages 1749-1789, October.
    10. Dirk Czarnitzki & Andrew A. Toole, 2013. "The R&D Investment–Uncertainty Relationship: Do Strategic Rivalry and Firm Size Matter?," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(1), pages 15-28, January.
    11. repec:oup:rfinst:v:26:y::i:1:p:34-78 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. repec:bla:jfinan:v:58:y:2003:i:5:p:1749-1790 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 1997. "Industry costs of equity," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 153-193, February.
    14. Tobin, James, 1969. "A General Equilibrium Approach to Monetary Theory," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 1(1), pages 15-29, February.
    15. George Li, 2016. "Growth options, dividend payout ratios and stock returns," Studies in Economics and Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 33(4), pages 638-659, October.
    16. Nick Bloom & Stephen Bond & John Van Reenen, 2007. "Uncertainty and Investment Dynamics," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 74(2), pages 391-415.
    17. Jonathan B. Berk & Richard C. Green & Vasant Naik, 1999. "Optimal Investment, Growth Options, and Security Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(5), pages 1553-1607, October.
    18. Vasia Panousi & Dimitris Papanikolaou, 2012. "Investment, Idiosyncratic Risk, and Ownership," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 67(3), pages 1113-1148, June.
    19. repec:bla:jfinan:v:59:y:2004:i:2:p:623-650 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Ron Giammarino & Murray Carlson & Adlai Fisher, 2004. "Corporate Investment and Asset Price Dynamics: Implications for Post-SEO Performance," 2004 Meeting Papers 812, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    21. Praveen Kumar & Dongmei Li, 2016. "Capital Investment, Innovative Capacity, and Stock Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 71(5), pages 2059-2094, October.
    22. Pindyck, Robert S, 1991. "Irreversibility, Uncertainty, and Investment," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 29(3), pages 1110-1148, September.
    23. Seru, Amit, 2014. "Firm boundaries matter: Evidence from conglomerates and R&D activity," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(2), pages 381-405.
    24. Jiang, George J. & Xu, Danielle & Yao, Tong, 2009. "The Information Content of Idiosyncratic Volatility," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 44(1), pages 1-28, February.
    25. Steven R. Grenadier, 2002. "Option Exercise Games: An Application to the Equilibrium Investment Strategies of Firms," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 15(3), pages 691-721.
    26. repec:bla:jfinan:v:59:y:2004:i:6:p:2577-2603 is not listed on IDEAS
    27. Barclay, Michael J & Smith, Clifford W, Jr, 1995. "The Maturity Structure of Corporate Debt," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 50(2), pages 609-631, June.
    28. James R. Brown & Steven M. Fazzari & Bruce C. Petersen, 2009. "Financing Innovation and Growth: Cash Flow, External Equity, and the 1990s R&D Boom," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(1), pages 151-185, February.
    29. Chen, Jiun-Lin & Jia, Z. Tingting & Sun, Ping-Wen, 2016. "Real option component of cash holdings, business cycle, and stock returns," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 97-106.
    30. Avinash K. Dixit & Robert S. Pindyck, 1994. "Investment under Uncertainty," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 5474.
    31. Leahy, John V & Whited, Toni M, 1996. "The Effect of Uncertainty on Investment: Some Stylized Facts," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 28(1), pages 64-83, February.
    32. Andrew Ang & Robert J. Hodrick & Yuhang Xing & Xiaoyan Zhang, 2006. "The Cross‐Section of Volatility and Expected Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(1), pages 259-299, February.
    33. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 1993. "Common risk factors in the returns on stocks and bonds," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 3-56, February.
    34. Drew Fudenberg & Jean Tirole, 1985. "Preemption and Rent Equalization in the Adoption of New Technology," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 52(3), pages 383-401.
    35. Louis K. C. Chan & Josef Lakonishok & Theodore Sougiannis, 2001. "The Stock Market Valuation of Research and Development Expenditures," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 56(6), pages 2431-2456, December.
    36. Bulan, Laarni T., 2005. "Real options, irreversible investment and firm uncertainty: New evidence from U.S. firms," Review of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(3-4), pages 255-279.
    37. Robert McDonald & Daniel Siegel, 1986. "The Value of Waiting to Invest," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 101(4), pages 707-727.
    38. Andrew B. Abel & Avinash K. Dixit & Janice C. Eberly & Robert S. Pindyck, 1996. "Options, the Value of Capital, and Investment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 111(3), pages 753-777.
    39. Nalin Kulatilaka & Enrico C. Perotti, 1998. "Strategic Growth Options," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 44(8), pages 1021-1031, August.
    40. Wagner, Niklas, 2004. "Time-varying moments, idiosyncratic risk, and an application to hot-issue IPO aftermarket returns," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 59-72, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zhao, Yan & Su, Kun, 2022. "Economic policy uncertainty and corporate financialization: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    2. Liu, Yun & Gao, Qun, 2024. "Economic policy uncertainty and enterprise innovation in China: From the perspective of equity financing and financing structure," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 17-33.
    3. Panagiotidis, Theodore & Printzis, Panagiotis, 2020. "What is the investment loss due to uncertainty?," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 45(C).
    4. El Ghoul, Sadok & Guedhami, Omrane & Mansi, Sattar & Wang, He (Helen), 2023. "Economic policy uncertainty, institutional environments, and corporate cash holdings," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    5. Al-Thaqeb, Saud Asaad & Algharabali, Barrak Ghanim, 2019. "Economic policy uncertainty: A literature review," The Journal of Economic Asymmetries, Elsevier, vol. 20(C).
    6. Ferguson, Andrew & Hu, Wei & Lam, Peter, 2022. "Political uncertainty and deal structure: Evidence from Australian mining project acquisitions," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    7. Nguyen, Minh Hong & Trinh, Vu Quang, 2023. "U.K. economic policy uncertainty and innovation activities: A firm-level analysis," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    8. Shen, Huayu & Hou, Fei, 2021. "Trade policy uncertainty and corporate innovation evidence from Chinese listed firms in new energy vehicle industry," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    9. Arif Khan, Muhammad & Qin, Xuezhi & Jebran, Khalil & Ullah, Irfan, 2020. "Uncertainty and R&D investment: Does product market competition matter?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    10. Boah, Emmanuel & Ujah, Nacasius U., 2024. "Firm-level political risk and corporate R&D investment," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    11. Zhou, Yuqin & Liu, Zhenhua & Wu, Shan, 2022. "The global economic policy uncertainty spillover analysis: In the background of COVID-19 pandemic," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    12. Zhu, Yanli & Yin, Li & Lu, Xueyan, 2024. "Peer effects with multifaceted network dependence structures in R&D investment decisions: Evidence from Chinese listed firms," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(PA).
    13. de la Horra, Luis P. & Perote, Javier & de la Fuente, Gabriel, 2022. "The impact of economic policy uncertainty and monetary policy on R&D investment: An option pricing approach," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 214(C).
    14. Lin, Yongjia & Fu, Xiaoqing & Fu, Xiaolan, 2021. "Varieties in state capitalism and corporate innovation: Evidence from an emerging economy," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    15. Cui, Xin & Wang, Chunfeng & Liao, Jing & Fang, Zhenming & Cheng, Feiyang, 2021. "Economic policy uncertainty exposure and corporate innovation investment: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    16. Yu, Zhen & Xiao, Yao & Li, Jinpo, 2021. "Firm-level perception of uncertainty and innovation activity: Textual evidence from China's A-share market," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    17. Yaoqin Li & Xixiong Xu & Yushu Zhu & Mamiza Haq, 2021. "CEO decision horizon and corporate R&D investments: an explanation based on managerial myopia and risk aversion," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(4), pages 5141-5175, December.
    18. Kong, Qunxi & Li, Rongrong & Wang, Ziqi & Peng, Dan, 2022. "Economic policy uncertainty and firm investment decisions: Dilemma or opportunity?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    19. Jieqiong Yang & Panzhu Luo & Yong Tan, 2020. "Contingent Decision of Corporate Environmental Responsibility Based on Uncertain Economic Policy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-18, October.
    20. Jung, Keumah & Kim, Sehee, 2024. "Economic policy uncertainty and narrative R&D disclosures," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    21. Wan, Qunchao & Chen, Jin & Yao, Zhu & Yuan, Ling, 2022. "Preferential tax policy and R&D personnel flow for technological innovation efficiency of China's high-tech industry in an emerging economy," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    22. Huang, Wen & Wu, Ying & Deng, Li, 2021. "Does banking competition stimulate regional innovation? Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    23. Hou, Fei & Tang, Wenjie & Wang, Huabing & Xiong, Hao, 2021. "Economic policy uncertainty, marketization level and firm-level inefficient investment: Evidence from Chinese listed firms in energy and power industries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    24. Ye, Jiangfeng & Wan, Qunchao & Li, Ruida & Yao, Zhu & Huang, Dujuan, 2022. "How do R&D agglomeration and economic policy uncertainty affect the innovative performance of Chinese high-tech industry?," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    25. Tingyong Zhong & Yimeng Zuo & Fangcheng Sun & Jeoung Yul Lee, 2020. "Customer Concentration, Economic Policy Uncertainty and Enterprise Sustainable Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-20, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Liu, Clark & Wang, Shujing, 2021. "Investment, idiosyncratic risk, and growth options," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 118-138.
    2. Laarni T. Bulan, 2005. "Real options, irreversible investment and firm uncertainty: New evidence from U.S. firms," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 14(3-4), pages 255-279.
    3. Vasia Panousi & Dimitris Papanikolaou, 2012. "Investment, Idiosyncratic Risk, and Ownership," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 67(3), pages 1113-1148, June.
    4. Seong-Hoon Cho & Jaimin Lee, 2021. "Estimating the uncertainty–R&D investment relationship and its interactions with firm size," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 57(3), pages 1243-1267, October.
    5. Bhamra, Harjoat S. & Shim, Kyung Hwan, 2017. "Stochastic idiosyncratic cash flow risk and real options: Implications for stock returns," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 400-431.
    6. F. Bacchini & M. E. Bontempi & R. Golinelli & C. Jona Lasinio, 2014. "ICT and Non-ICT investments: short and long run macro dynamics," Working Papers wp956, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    7. Boah, Emmanuel & Ujah, Nacasius U., 2024. "Firm-level political risk and corporate R&D investment," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    8. Panagiotidis, Theodore & Printzis, Panagiotis, 2020. "What is the investment loss due to uncertainty?," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 45(C).
    9. Gabriel P. Mathy, 2020. "How much did uncertainty shocks matter in the Great Depression?," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 14(2), pages 283-323, May.
    10. Bulan, Laarni & Mayer, Christopher & Somerville, C. Tsuriel, 2009. "Irreversible investment, real options, and competition: Evidence from real estate development," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 237-251, May.
    11. Mohn, Klaus & Misund, Bård, 2009. "Investment and uncertainty in the international oil and gas industry," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 240-248, March.
    12. Glover, Brent & Levine, Oliver, 2015. "Uncertainty, investment, and managerial incentives," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 121-137.
    13. Arif Khan, Muhammad & Qin, Xuezhi & Jebran, Khalil & Ullah, Irfan, 2020. "Uncertainty and R&D investment: Does product market competition matter?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    14. Yang, Zhenyi & Yu, Yiwei & Zhang, Yubing & Zhou, Sili, 2019. "Policy uncertainty exposure and market value: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    15. Chen, I-Ju & Wang, David K., 2019. "Real option, idiosyncratic risk, and corporate investment: Evidence from Taiwan family firms," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    16. Badertscher, Brad & Shroff, Nemit & White, Hal D., 2013. "Externalities of public firm presence: Evidence from private firms' investment decisions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(3), pages 682-706.
    17. Morikawa, Masayuki, 2016. "Business uncertainty and investment: Evidence from Japanese companies," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 224-236.
    18. Huifeng Chang & Adrien D'Avernas & Andrea L. Eisfeldt, 2024. "Bonds versus Equities: Information for Investment," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 79(6), pages 3893-3941, December.
    19. Grassi, Emanuele & Di Cintio, Marco, 2012. "Uncertainty, flexible labour relations and R&D expenditure," MPRA Paper 37646, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Di Li & Erica X. N. Li, 2018. "Corporate Governance and Costs of Equity: Theory and Evidence," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(1), pages 83-101, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Growth option; Idiosyncratic volatility; R&D investment; Uncertainty;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G31 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Capital Budgeting; Fixed Investment and Inventory Studies
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:finana:v:51:y:2017:i:c:p:16-24. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/620166 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.