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Contrasting Trends in Firm Volatility

Author

Listed:
  • David Thesmar

    (GREGH - Groupement de Recherche et d'Etudes en Gestion à HEC - HEC Paris - Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Mathias Thoenig

    (HEC Lausanne - Faculté des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC Lausanne), UNIL - Université de Lausanne = University of Lausanne)

Abstract

Over the past decades, the real and financial volatility of listed firms has increased, while the volatility of private firms has decreased. We first provide panel data evidence that, at the firm level, sales and employment volatility are impacted by changes in the degree of ownership concentration. We then construct a model with private and listed firms where risk-taking is a choice variable at the firm-level. Due to general equilibrium feedback, we find that both an increase in stock market participation and integration in international capital markets generate opposite trends in volatility for private and listed firms.

Suggested Citation

  • David Thesmar & Mathias Thoenig, 2011. "Contrasting Trends in Firm Volatility," Post-Print hal-00635987, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00635987
    DOI: 10.1257/mac.3.4.143
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

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    2. Julian di Giovanni & Andrei A. Levchenko & Isabelle Mejean, 2014. "Firms, Destinations, and Aggregate Fluctuations," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 82(4), pages 1303-1340, July.
    3. Karadi, Peter & Amann, Juergen & Bachiller, Javier Sánchez & Seiler, Pascal & Wursten, Jesse, 2023. "Price setting on the two sides of the Atlantic - Evidence from supermarket scanner data," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(S), pages 1-17.
    4. Armenter, Roc & Hnatkovska, Viktoria, 2017. "Taxes and capital structure: Understanding firms’ savings," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 13-33.
    5. David Thesmar & Mathias Thoenig, 2011. "Contrasting Trends in Firm Volatility," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 3(4), pages 143-180, October.
    6. Bonfiglioli, Alessandra, 2012. "Investor protection and income inequality: Risk sharing vs risk taking," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(1), pages 92-104.
    7. Joel M. David & Romain Rancière & David Zeke, 2023. "International Diversification, Reallocation, and the Labor Share," NBER Working Papers 31168, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Claudio Michelacci & Fabiano Schivardi, 2013. "Does Idiosyncratic Business Risk Matter For Growth?," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 11(2), pages 343-368, April.
    9. Kramarz, Francis & Martin, Julien & Mejean, Isabelle, 2020. "Volatility in the small and in the large: The lack of diversification in international trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    10. Markus Leibrecht & Johann Scharler, 2015. "Government Size and Business Cycle Volatility: How Important are Credit Constraints?," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 82(326), pages 201-221, April.
    11. Roc Armenter & Viktoria Hnatkovska, 2011. "The macroeconomics of firms' savings," Working Papers 12-1, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    12. Young Gak Kim & Hyeog Ug Kwon, 2017. "Aggregate and Firm-level Volatility in the Japanese Economy," The Japanese Economic Review, Springer, vol. 68(2), pages 158-172, June.
    13. Paula Garda & Volker Ziemann, 2014. "Economic Policies and Microeconomic Stability: A Literature Review and Some Empirics," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1115, OECD Publishing.
    14. Volker Ziemann, 2013. "Do Structural Policies Affect Macroeconomic Stability?," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1075, OECD Publishing.
    15. Muhammad Saqib Bashir Butt & Hasniza Mohd Taib, 2019. "Economic Forces and Firm Stock Returns Volatility: Role of Firm Features," Pakistan Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, International Research Alliance for Sustainable Development (iRASD), vol. 7(3), pages :281-302, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    trend; firm volatility;

    JEL classification:

    • G15 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - International Financial Markets
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance

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