IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/quaeco/v51y2011i2p162-172.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The efficiency of internal capital markets: Evidence from the Annual Capital Expenditure Survey

Author

Listed:
  • Agarwal, Sumit
  • Chiu, I-Ming
  • Souphom, Victor
  • Yamashiro, Guy M.

Abstract

Does firm diversity result in an efficient or inefficient allocation of capital? Are diversified firms "value creating" or "value destroying"? We apply a panel data model to examine the relationship between firm diversity and firm value using both COMPUSTAT and the Annual Capital Expenditure Survey (ACES) data. Our main empirical result confirms that firm diversity is negatively related to the efficiency of investment (firm value), which is consistent with the majority findings of recent studies. However, once we distinguish between capital expenditure for structures and equipment, we find that while firms do inefficiently allocate capital for equipment, they efficiently allocate capital for structures. These results suggest that when the decision has long-lasting repercussions, headquarters will, more often than not, make the correct choice.

Suggested Citation

  • Agarwal, Sumit & Chiu, I-Ming & Souphom, Victor & Yamashiro, Guy M., 2011. "The efficiency of internal capital markets: Evidence from the Annual Capital Expenditure Survey," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 162-172, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:quaeco:v:51:y:2011:i:2:p:162-172
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1062976911000044
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

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

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Casares, Miguel, 2006. "Time-to-build, monetary shocks, and aggregate fluctuations," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(6), pages 1161-1176, September.
    2. Vojislav Maksimovic & Gordon Phillips, 2002. "Do Conglomerate Firms Allocate Resources Inefficiently Across Industries? Theory and Evidence," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(2), pages 721-767, April.
    3. Ozbas, Oguzhan, 2005. "Integration, organizational processes, and allocation of resources," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(1), pages 201-242, January.
    4. Lang, Larry H. P. & Stulz, ReneM. & Walkling, Ralph A., 1991. "A test of the free cash flow hypothesis*1: The case of bidder returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 315-335, October.
    5. Comment, Robert & Jarrell, Gregg A., 1995. "Corporate focus and stock returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 67-87, January.
    6. Bolton, Patrick & Scharfstein, David S, 1990. "A Theory of Predation Based on Agency Problems in Financial Contracting," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(1), pages 93-106, March.
    7. Anthony M. Marino & John G. Matsusaka, 2005. "Decision Processes, Agency Problems, and Information: An Economic Analysis of Capital Budgeting Procedures," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 18(1), pages 301-325.
    8. Berger, Allen N. & Miller, Nathan H. & Petersen, Mitchell A. & Rajan, Raghuram G. & Stein, Jeremy C., 2005. "Does function follow organizational form? Evidence from the lending practices of large and small banks," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(2), pages 237-269, May.
    9. Kydland, Finn E & Prescott, Edward C, 1982. "Time to Build and Aggregate Fluctuations," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(6), pages 1345-1370, November.
    10. Jeremy C. Stein, 1989. "Efficient Capital Markets, Inefficient Firms: A Model of Myopic Corporate Behavior," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 104(4), pages 655-669.
    11. Lamont, Owen, 1997. "Cash Flow and Investment: Evidence from Internal Capital Markets," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(1), pages 83-109, March.
    12. repec:bla:jfinan:v:59:y:2004:i:2:p:479-506 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Raghuram Rajan & Henri Servaes & Luigi Zingales, 2000. "The Cost of Diversity: The Diversification Discount and Inefficient Investment," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(1), pages 35-80, February.
    14. Mark Doms, 2004. "The boom and bust in information technology investment," Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, pages 19-34.
    15. Montgomery, Michael R., 1995. "Capital complementarity, time-to-build, and the persistence of investment starts," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 187-205.
    16. Hyun-Han Shin & René M. Stulz, 1998. "Are Internal capital Markets Efficient?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 113(2), pages 531-552.
    17. Li, David D & Li, Shan, 1996. "A Theory of Corporate Scope and Financial Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 51(2), pages 691-709, June.
    18. Toni M. Whited, 2001. "Is It Inefficient Investment that Causes the Diversification Discount?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 56(5), pages 1667-1691, October.
    19. David S. Scharfstein & Jeremy C. Stein, 2000. "The Dark Side of Internal Capital Markets: Divisional Rent‐Seeking and Inefficient Investment," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(6), pages 2537-2564, December.
    20. Jose Manuel Campa & Simi Kedia, 2002. "Explaining the Diversification Discount," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(4), pages 1731-1762, August.
    21. Narayanan, M P, 1985. "Managerial Incentives for Short-term Results," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 40(5), pages 1469-1484, December.
    22. Raghuram G. Rajan & Luigi Zingales, 1998. "Power in a Theory of the Firm," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 113(2), pages 387-432.
    23. Lindenberg, Eric B & Ross, Stephen A, 1981. "Tobin's q Ratio and Industrial Organization," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 54(1), pages 1-32, January.
    24. Lang, Larry H P & Stulz, Rene M, 1994. "Tobin's q, Corporate Diversification, and Firm Performance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 102(6), pages 1248-1280, December.
    25. Robert Gertner & Eric Powers & David Scharfstein, 2002. "Learning about Internal Capital Markets from Corporate Spin‐offs," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(6), pages 2479-2506, December.
    26. Denis, David J & Denis, Diane K & Sarin, Atulya, 1997. "Agency Problems, Equity Ownership, and Corporate Diversification," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(1), pages 135-160, March.
    27. David S. Scharfstein, 1998. "The Dark Side of Internal Capital Markets II: Evidence from Diversified Conglomerates," NBER Working Papers 6352, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    28. Roman Inderst & Christian Laux, 2005. "Incentives in Internal Capital Markets: Capital Constraints, Competition, and Investment Opportunities," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 36(1), pages 215-228, Spring.
    29. Demsetz, Harold & Villalonga, Belen, 2001. "Ownership structure and corporate performance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 209-233, September.
    30. Bebchuk, Lucian Arye & Stole, Lars A, 1993. "Do Short-Term Objectives Lead to Under- or Overinvestment in Long-Term Projects?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 48(2), pages 719-729, June.
    31. Charles Himmelberg & Alessandra del Boca & Marzio Galeotti & Paola Rota, 2005. "Investment and Time to Plan: A Comparison of Structures vs. Equipment in a Panel of Italian Firms," Working Papers 2005.54, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    32. Stein, Jeremy C., 2003. "Agency, information and corporate investment," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, in: G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Finance, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 2, pages 111-165, Elsevier.
    33. Chevalier Judith, 2004. "What Do We Know About Cross-subsidization? Evidence from Merging Firms," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 4(1), pages 1-29, April.
    34. Teece, David J, 1981. "Internal Organization and Economic Performance: An Empirical Analysis of the Profitability of Principal Firms," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 173-199, December.
    35. Steer, Peter S & Cable, John R, 1978. "Internal Organization and Profit: An Empirical Analysis of Large U.K. Companies," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 13-30, September.
    36. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1990. "Equilibrium Short Horizons of Investors and Firms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(2), pages 148-153, May.
    37. Luis Garicano, 2000. "Hierarchies and the Organization of Knowledge in Production," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 108(5), pages 874-904, October.
    38. Berger, Philip G. & Ofek, Eli, 1995. "Diversification's effect on firm value," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 39-65, January.
    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. Gyan, Alex Kwaku & Brahmana, Rayenda & Bakri, Abdul Karim, 2017. "Diversification strategy, efficiency, and firm performance: Insight from emerging market," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 1103-1114.
    2. Gökberk Can & Samet Günay & Murat Ocak, 2021. "How does size affect capital expenditures? Evidence from Borsa Istanbul," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 1(1), pages 1-28, January.

    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. Wulf, Julie, 2009. "Influence and inefficiency in the internal capital market," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 72(1), pages 305-321, October.
    2. Stefan Erdorf & Thomas Hartmann-Wendels & Nicolas Heinrichs & Michael Matz, 2013. "Corporate diversification and firm value: a survey of recent literature," Financial Markets and Portfolio Management, Springer;Swiss Society for Financial Market Research, vol. 27(2), pages 187-215, June.
    3. Bernardo, Antonio E. & Luo, Jiang & Wang, James J.D., 2006. "A theory of socialistic internal capital markets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(3), pages 485-509, June.
    4. Kim, Sehoon, 2020. "Disappearing Discounts: Hedge Fund Activism in Conglomerates," MPRA Paper 100876, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Stein, Jeremy C., 2003. "Agency, information and corporate investment," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, in: G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Finance, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 2, pages 111-165, Elsevier.
    6. Doukas, John A. & Kan, Ozgur B., 2008. "Investment decisions and internal capital markets: Evidence from acquisitions," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(8), pages 1484-1498, August.
    7. Lin, Chen & Su, Dongwei, 2008. "Industrial diversification, partial privatization and firm valuation: Evidence from publicly listed firms in China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 14(4), pages 405-417, September.
    8. Klein, Peter G, 2001. "Were the Acquisitive Conglomerates Inefficient?," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 32(4), pages 745-761, Winter.
    9. Glaser, Markus & Müller, Sebastian, 2006. "Der Diversification Discount in Deutschland: Existiert ein Bewertungsabschlag für diversifizierte Unternehmen?," Sonderforschungsbereich 504 Publications 06-13, Sonderforschungsbereich 504, Universität Mannheim;Sonderforschungsbereich 504, University of Mannheim.
    10. David J. Denis & Diane K. Denis & Keven Yost, 2002. "Global Diversification, Industrial Diversification, and Firm Value," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(5), pages 1951-1979, October.
    11. Lamont, Owen A. & Polk, Christopher, 2002. "Does diversification destroy value? Evidence from the industry shocks," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 51-77, January.
    12. Gautier, Axel & Heider, Florian, 2002. "The Benefit and Cost of Winner Picking: Redistribution Vs Incentives," Bonn Econ Discussion Papers 31/2002, University of Bonn, Bonn Graduate School of Economics (BGSE).
    13. Ushijima, Tatsuo, 2005. "Internal capital market and the growth and survival of Japanese plants in the United States," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 366-385, September.
    14. Kolasinski, Adam C., 2009. "Subsidiary debt, capital structure and internal capital markets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(2), pages 327-343, November.
    15. Martin, John D. & Sayrak, Akin, 2003. "Corporate diversification and shareholder value: a survey of recent literature," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 37-57, January.
    16. Jandik, Tomas & Makjija, Anil K., 2004. "Can Diversification Create Value? Evidence from the Electric Utility Industry," Working Paper Series 2005-7, Ohio State University, Charles A. Dice Center for Research in Financial Economics.
    17. Chen, Sheng-Syan & Chen, I-Ju, 2012. "Corporate governance and capital allocations of diversified firms," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 395-409.
    18. Iskenderoglu, Cansu, 2021. "Managerial discretion and efficiency of internal capital markets," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    19. Choe, Chongwoo & Yin, Xiangkang, 2009. "Diversification discount, information rents, and internal capital markets," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 178-196, May.
    20. Gatzer, Sebastian & Hoang, Daniel & Ruckes, Martin, 2015. "Internal Capital Markets and Diversified Firms: Theory and Practice," EconStor Preprints 169432, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.

    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:quaeco:v:51:y:2011:i:2:p:162-172. 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/620167 .

    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.