کد مقاله | کد نشریه | سال انتشار | مقاله انگلیسی | نسخه تمام متن |
---|---|---|---|---|
958277 | 928970 | 2012 | 14 صفحه PDF | دانلود رایگان |
This paper investigates whether geographic diversification is value-enhancing or value-destroying in the financial services sector, broadly defined. Our dataset comprises approximately 3579 observations over the period from 1985 to 2004 and covers the entire range of U.S. financial intermediaries — commercial banks, investment banks, insurance companies, asset managers, and financial infrastructure services firms. We use two alternative measures of geographic diversification: (1) a dummy variable whether the firm reports more than one geographic segment and (2) the percentage of sales from non-domestic operations. Our results indicate that geographic diversification is not associated with a significant valuation discount in financial intermediaries. However, when accounting for the firms' main activity-areas, we find evidence of a significant discount associated with geographic diversification in securities firms and a premium in credit intermediaries and insurance companies. All these results are robust after taking into account functional diversification of the firms, a potential endogeneity of both functional and geographic diversification, and a potential value transfer from equity to debt holders by using estimates of the market value of debt.
► We investigate the value effect of geographic diversification for financial services firms.
► Our dataset covers the entire range of U.S. financial intermediaries.
► Overall, geographic diversification is not associated with a significant discount.
► But there is a discount in securities firms and a premium in credit intermediaries and insurance companies.
Journal: Journal of Empirical Finance - Volume 19, Issue 1, January 2012, Pages 109–122