scholarly journals Technological Specialization and the Decline of Diversified Firms

2018 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 1581-1614 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando Anjos ◽  
Cesare Fracassi

We document a strong decline in corporate-diversification activity since the late 1970s, and we develop a dynamic model that explains this pattern, both qualitatively and quantitatively. The key feature of the model is that synergies endogenously decline with technological specialization, leading to fewer diversified firms in equilibrium. The model further predicts that segments inside a conglomerate should become more related over time, which is consistent with the data. Finally, the calibrated model also matches other empirical magnitudes well: output growth rate, market-to-book ratios, diversification discount, frequency and returns of diversifying mergers, and frequency of refocusing activity.

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 405-424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Garrett C.C. Smith ◽  
Jeffrey M. Coy

Purpose The purpose of this study is to compare two theories that relate the proportion of diversified firms in the economy and the implied discount for diversified firms: the first is a real-options model predicting a positive relationship between the discount and management’s choice to operate a diversified firm; the second is based on catering theory, in which a negative relationship is predicted, as management is attentive to investor preference concerning diversified firms. Design/methodology/approach This study proposes a new aggregate measure of the diversification discount. The authors’ measure allows for decomposition of the discount into firm-level mispricing, industry-level mispricing and long-run fundamental value components. Findings Results support a catering theory of diversification. The discount appears to be the result of firm-level mispricing. Thus, providing an explanation for why, in light of the observed discount, a large number of diversified firms persist. Originality/value To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to provide evidence that firm-level mispricing may drive the observed diversification discount.


2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-103
Author(s):  
Hardik A. Marfatia

In this paper, I undertake a novel approach to uncover the forecasting interconnections in the international housing markets. Using a dynamic model averaging framework that allows both the coefficients and the entire forecasting model to dynamically change over time, I uncover the intertwined forecasting relationships in 23 leading international housing markets. The evidence suggests significant forecasting interconnections in these markets. However, no country holds a constant forecasting advantage, including the United States and the United Kingdom, although the U.S. housing market's predictive power has increased over time. Evidence also suggests that allowing the forecasting model to change is more important than allowing the coefficients to change over time.


2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 360-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ranjitha Ajay ◽  
R Madhumathi

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the impact of earnings management on capital structure across firm diversification strategies. Design/methodology/approach – The study focuses on firms operating in the manufacturing sector (diversified and focused). Panel data methodology compares diversification strategies and identifies the impact of diversification strategy with earnings management practices on capital structure decision. Findings – International and product diversified firms have lower levels of leverage than focused firms in their capital structure. Asset-based earnings management is positive for diversified (market/product) firms. Earnings management using discretionary expenditure (project based) is found to be higher for market diversified but product-focused firms. Earning smoothing method is found to be significant for focused firms and shows a negative relationship with capital structure. Originality/value – This study offers an insight into the relationship between corporate diversification, earnings management and capital structure decisions of manufacturing firms. The results provide an important contribution to accounting and strategy literature. A distinction is made between market- and product-diversified firms and influence of earnings management practices (asset-based, project-based and earnings smoothing (ESM)) on capital structure decisions. Diversified firms (market/product) tend to have lower levels of leverage than focused firms and earnings management practices within firm groups significantly influence the capital structure decisions.


Author(s):  
M. Luisa Navarro-Pérez ◽  
M. Coronada Fernández-Calderón ◽  
Virginia Vadillo-Rodríguez

In this paper, a simple numerical procedure is presented to monitor the growth of Streptococcus sanguinis over time in the absence and presence of propolis, a natural antimicrobial. In particular, it is shown that the real-time decomposition of growth curves obtained through optical density measurements into growth rate and acceleration can be a powerful tool to precisely assess a large range of key parameters [ i.e. lag time ( t 0 ), starting growth rate ( γ 0 ), initial acceleration of the growth ( a 0 ), maximum growth rate ( γ max ), maximum acceleration ( a max ) and deceleration ( a min ) of the growth and the total number of cells at the beginning of the saturation phase ( N s )] that can be readily used to fully describe growth over time. Consequently, the procedure presented provides precise data of the time course of the different growth phases and features, which is expected to be relevant, for instance, to thoroughly evaluate the effect of new antimicrobial agents. It further provides insight into predictive microbiology, likely having important implications to assumptions adopted in mathematical models to predict the progress of bacterial growth. Importance: The new and simple numerical procedure presented in this paper to analyze bacterial growth will possibly allow identifying true differences in efficacy among antimicrobial drugs for their applications in human health, food security, and environment, among others. It further provides insight into predictive microbiology, likely helping in the development of proper mathematical models to predict the course of bacterial growth under diverse circumstances.


2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (14) ◽  
pp. 33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Fragoso-Servón ◽  
Alberto Pereira-Corona

The Mexican Caribbean and its main cities have the highest population growth rate in Mexico. This work goal was to analyze the growth of the city of Chetumal and the geopedological characteristics in which it has been developed, to identify potential hazards and thereby improve development programs. The methodology consisted in the study of geopedological characteristics and the analysis of land use changes in the city over time. The main problems of Chetumal are floods and subsidence. Floods are more common in areas where Gleysols soils are found in low-lying areas. The subsidence is associated to Leptosols with a phreatic mantle at a shallow depth where the precipitations favors dissolution of rock. The extrapolation of the relationships between geopedological conditions and the area occupied by the city, allows us to suppose that areas which the current Urban Development Program proposes for future city expansion will develop the same problems of subsidence and flooding as the areas already built in sites with similar conditions.


Aviation ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 10-15
Author(s):  
Edgars K. Vasermanis ◽  
Nicholas A. Nechval ◽  
Konstantin N. Nechval ◽  
Kristine N. Rozite

Airline seat inventory control is about “selling the right seats to the right people at the right time”. In this paper, the problem of determining optimal booking policy for multiple fare classes in a pool of identical seats for multi‐leg flights is considered. During the time prior to departure of a multi‐leg flight, decisions must be made concerning the allocation of reserved seats to passengers requesting space on the full or partial spans of the flight. It will be noted that in the case of multi‐leg flights the long‐haul passengers are often unable to obtain seats because the shorter‐haul passengers block them. For large commercial airlines, efficiently setting and updating seat allocation targets for each passenger category on each multi‐leg flight is an extremely difficult problem. This paper presents static and dynamic models of airline seat inventory control for multi‐leg flights with multiple fare classes, which allow one to maximize the expected contribution to profit. The dynamic model uses the most recent demand and capacity information and allows one to allocate seats dynamically and anticipatorily over time.


2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 273-293
Author(s):  
Ying Huang ◽  
Weishan Miao

This paper surveys the status of Chinese English-language journals in the humanities and social sciences (HSS-CELJs). HSS-CELJs are an important vehicle for disseminating Chinese scholarly voices and culture throughout the world. We used a mixed-methods approach to investigate the status of HSS-CELJs according to a number of attributes: growth rate over time, type of publisher, discipline, region of publication, publishing frequency, independence versus co-publication, and inclusion in citation indexes. We discuss some of the challenges facing HSS-CELJ publishing and highlight several contradictions of internationalization in the Chinese context. As of March 2020, eighty-seven HSS-CELJs covered nineteen disciplines, among which economics (17 per cent) and law (13 per cent) accounted for the highest proportions. The establishment of HSS-CELJs has increased significantly since 2004. Fifty-two per cent of HSS-CELJs were jointly operated with international publishers under two different models of cooperation, and twenty-eight (32 per cent) were indexed in international databases.


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