IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ucp/ipolec/doi10.1086-694409.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Are US Companies Too Short-Term Oriented? Some Thoughts

Author

Listed:
  • Steven N. Kaplan

Abstract

US companies are often criticized for being overly short-term oriented. This paper documents that those criticisms have a long history, going back at least 35 years. The paper then considers the implications of sustained short-termism for corporate profits, venture capital investments and returns, private equity investments and returns, and corporate valuations. The paper finds little long-term evidence that is consistent with the predictions of the short-term critics.

Suggested Citation

  • Steven N. Kaplan, 2018. "Are US Companies Too Short-Term Oriented? Some Thoughts," Innovation Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 18(1), pages 107-124.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:ipolec:doi:10.1086/694409
    DOI: 10.1086/694409
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/694409
    Download Restriction: Access to the online full text or PDF requires a subscription.
    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/694409
    Download Restriction: Access to the online full text or PDF requires a subscription.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1086/694409?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 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. Steven N. Kaplan & Antoinette Schoar, 2005. "Private Equity Performance: Returns, Persistence, and Capital Flows," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(4), pages 1791-1823, August.
    2. Robert S. Harris & Tim Jenkinson & Steven N. Kaplan, 2014. "Private Equity Performance: What Do We Know?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 69(5), pages 1851-1882, October.
    3. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 2004. "New lists: Fundamentals and survival rates," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(2), pages 229-269, August.
    4. Sahlman, William A., 1990. "The structure and governance of venture-capital organizations," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 473-521, October.
    5. Steven N. Kaplan & Josh Lerner, 2010. "It Ain't Broke: The Past, Present, and Future of Venture Capital," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 22(2), pages 36-47, 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. Mariassunta Giannetti & Xiaoyun Yu, 2021. "Adapting to Radical Change: The Benefits of Short-Horizon Investors," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(7), pages 4032-4055, July.
    2. Drobetz, W. & Momtaz, Paul P., 2020. "Antitakeover Provisions and Firm Value: New Evidence from the M&A Market," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    3. Fos, Vyacheslav & Almeida, Heitor & Ersahin, Nuri & Irani, Rustom M & ,, 2019. "Do Short-Term Incentives Affect Long-Term Productivity?," CEPR Discussion Papers 13894, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    4. Achilles, Catrina & Limbach, Peter & Wolff, Michael & Yoon, Aaron, 2024. "Inside the blackbox of firm environmental efforts: Evidence from emissions reduction initiatives," CFR Working Papers 24-05, University of Cologne, Centre for Financial Research (CFR).
    5. Margaret K. Kyle, 2019. "The Alignment of Innovation Policy and Social Welfare: Evidence from Pharmaceuticals," NBER Chapters, in: Innovation Policy and the Economy, Volume 20, pages 95-123, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Ekaterine Gulua, 2020. "Management of Process and Infrastructure in Higher Education Institution," European Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies Articles, Revistia Research and Publishing, vol. 6, January -.
    7. Autore, Don M. & Clarke, Nicholas & Liu, Baixiao, 2019. "Activist investors and open market share repurchases," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 1-1.
    8. Apergis, Nicholas & Gangopadhyay, Partha, 2020. "The asymmetric relationships between pollution, energy use and oil prices in Vietnam: Some behavioural implications for energy policy-making," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).

    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. Ting-Kai Chou & Jia-Chi Cheng & Chin-Chen Chien, 2013. "How useful is venture capital prestige? Evidence from IPO survivability," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 40(4), pages 843-863, May.
    2. Bo Becker & Victoria Ivashina, 2023. "Disruption and Credit Markets," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 78(1), pages 105-139, February.
    3. Gompers, Paul A. & Gornall, Will & Kaplan, Steven N. & Strebulaev, Ilya A., 2020. "How do venture capitalists make decisions?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(1), pages 169-190.
    4. Sofia Johan & Minjie Zhang, 2021. "Information Asymmetries in Private Equity: Reporting Frequency, Endowments, and Governance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 174(1), pages 199-220, November.
    5. Rin, Marco Da & Hellmann, Thomas & Puri, Manju, 2013. "A Survey of Venture Capital Research," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, in: G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Finance, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 573-648, Elsevier.
    6. Chaplinsky, Susan & Gupta-Mukherjee, Swasti, 2016. "Investment risk allocation and the venture capital exit market: Evidence from early stage investing," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 38-54.
    7. Henry Lahr & Andrea Mina, 2014. "Liquidity, Technological Opportunities, and the Stage Distribution of Venture Capital Investments," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 43(2), pages 291-325, June.
    8. Andrew Metrick & Ayako Yasuda, 2011. "Venture Capital and Other Private Equity: a Survey," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 17(4), pages 619-654, September.
    9. Johannes Wallmeroth & Peter Wirtz & Alexander Peter Groh, 2017. "Institutional Seed Financing, Angel Financing, and Crowdfunding of Entrepreneurial Ventures: A Literature Review," Working Papers hal-01527999, HAL.
    10. Buchner, Axel & Wagner, Niklas F., 2017. "Rewarding risk-taking or skill? The case of private equity fund managers," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 14-32.
    11. Susan Chaplinsky & Swasti Gupta-Mukherjee, 2013. "The Decline in Venture-Backed IPOS: Implications for Capital Recovery," Chapters, in: Mario Levis & Silvio Vismara (ed.), Handbook of Research on IPOs, chapter 2, pages 35-56, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    12. Liang, Qing & Gan, Christopher & Li, Zhaohua, 2019. "Institutional environment and financing costs: Evidence from venture capital backed transactions," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 31(C).
    13. Tereza Tykvová, 2018. "Venture capital and private equity financing: an overview of recent literature and an agenda for future research," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 88(3), pages 325-362, May.
    14. Fang, Dawei, 2019. "Dry powder and short fuses: Private equity funds in emerging markets," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 48-71.
    15. Jean-Noël Barrot, 2017. "Investor Horizon and the Life Cycle of Innovative Firms: Evidence from Venture Capital," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(9), pages 3021-3043, September.
    16. Axel Buchner & Susanne Espenlaub & Arif Khurshed & Abdulkadir Mohamed, 2018. "Cross-border venture capital investments: The impact of foreignness on returns," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 49(5), pages 575-604, July.
    17. Buchner, Axel, 2016. "Dealing with non-normality when estimating abnormal returns and systematic risk of private equity: A closed-form solution," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 60-78.
    18. Brian H. Boyer & Taylor D. Nadauld & Keith P. Vorkink & Michael S. Weisbach, 2023. "Discount‐Rate Risk in Private Equity: Evidence from Secondary Market Transactions," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 78(2), pages 835-885, April.
    19. Carolin Bock & Maximilian Schmidt, 2015. "Should I stay, or should I go? – How fund dynamics influence venture capital exit decisions," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(1), pages 68-82, November.
    20. L. Bottazzi & M. Da Rin & T. Hellmann, 2007. "The Importance of Trust for Investment: Evidence from Venture Capital," Working Papers 612, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G3 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance

    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:ucp:ipolec:doi:10.1086/694409. 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: Journals Division (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/IPE .

    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.