Assessing the impact of oil prices on firms of different sizes: Its tough being in the middle

Recent empirical research has found evidence of a relationship between oil price movements and stock prices. Most published research investigates the relationship between oil price movements and stock prices using either economy-wide measures of stock prices or industry sector measures of stock prices. An important question that has largely gone unanswered relates to the relationship between oil prices and stock prices when the size of firms is allowed to vary. Relative to large firms, do oil price movements have larger or smaller impacts on the stock prices of small- or medium-sized firms? The answer to this question could have important policy implications that affect economic growth and prosperity. In this paper, a panel of firms is followed over a 17-year period to investigate the relationship between oil price movements, firm size, and stock prices. Evidence is found that shows the relationship between oil price movements and stock prices does vary with firm size and the relationship is strongest for medium-sized firms.