We provide evidence using firm 10‐Ks that over the past 30 years, U.S. firms have expanded their scope of operations. Increases in scope were achieved largely without increasing traditional operating segments. Scope expansion significantly increases valuation and is realized primarily through acquisitions and investment in R&D, but not through capital expenditures. Traditional concentration ratios do not capture this expansion of scope. Our findings point to a new type of firm that increases scope through related expansion, which is highly valued by the market.
{"title":"Scope, Scale, and Concentration: The 21st‐Century Firm","authors":"GERARD HOBERG, GORDON M. PHILLIPS","doi":"10.1111/jofi.13400","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jofi.13400","url":null,"abstract":"We provide evidence using firm 10‐Ks that over the past 30 years, U.S. firms have expanded their scope of operations. Increases in scope were achieved largely without increasing traditional operating segments. Scope expansion significantly increases valuation and is realized primarily through acquisitions and investment in R&D, but not through capital expenditures. Traditional concentration ratios do not capture this expansion of scope. Our findings point to a new type of firm that increases scope through related expansion, which is highly valued by the market.","PeriodicalId":15753,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Finance","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":8.0,"publicationDate":"2024-11-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142580327","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
VICTOR DeMIGUEL, ALBERTO MARTÍN‐UTRERA, RAMAN UPPAL
Moreira and Muir question the existence of a strong risk‐return trade‐off by showing that investors can improve performance by reducing exposure to risk factors when their volatility is high. However, Cederburg et al. show that these strategies fail out‐of‐sample, and Barroso and Detzel show they do not survive transaction costs. We propose a conditional multifactor portfolio that outperforms its unconditional counterpart even out‐of‐sample and net of costs. Moreover, we show that factor risk prices generally decrease with market volatility. Our results demonstrate that the breakdown of the risk‐return trade‐off is more puzzling than previously thought.
{"title":"A Multifactor Perspective on Volatility‐Managed Portfolios","authors":"VICTOR DeMIGUEL, ALBERTO MARTÍN‐UTRERA, RAMAN UPPAL","doi":"10.1111/jofi.13395","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jofi.13395","url":null,"abstract":"Moreira and Muir question the existence of a strong risk‐return trade‐off by showing that investors can improve performance by reducing exposure to risk factors when their volatility is high. However, Cederburg et al. show that these strategies fail out‐of‐sample, and Barroso and Detzel show they do not survive transaction costs. We propose a conditional multifactor portfolio that outperforms its unconditional counterpart even out‐of‐sample and net of costs. Moreover, we show that factor risk prices generally decrease with market volatility. Our results demonstrate that the breakdown of the risk‐return trade‐off is more puzzling than previously thought.","PeriodicalId":15753,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Finance","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":8.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142519385","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
We study theoretically how the proliferation of new data (“data abundance”) affects the allocation of capital between quantitative and nonquantitative asset managers (“data miners” and “experts”), their performance, and price informativeness. Data miners search for predictors of asset payoffs and select those with a sufficiently high precision. Data abundance raises the precision of the best predictors, but it can induce data miners to search less intensively for high‐precision signals. In this case, their performance becomes more dispersed and they receive less capital. Nevertheless, data abundance always raises price informativeness and can therefore reduce asset managers' average performance.
{"title":"Equilibrium Data Mining and Data Abundance","authors":"JÉRÔME DUGAST, THIERRY FOUCAULT","doi":"10.1111/jofi.13397","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jofi.13397","url":null,"abstract":"We study theoretically how the proliferation of new data (“data abundance”) affects the allocation of capital between quantitative and nonquantitative asset managers (“data miners” and “experts”), their performance, and price informativeness. Data miners search for predictors of asset payoffs and select those with a sufficiently high precision. Data abundance raises the precision of the best predictors, but it can induce data miners to search less intensively for high‐precision signals. In this case, their performance becomes more dispersed and they receive less capital. Nevertheless, data abundance always raises price informativeness and can therefore reduce asset managers' average performance.","PeriodicalId":15753,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Finance","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":8.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142519381","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
JONATHAN BROGAARD, MATTHEW C. RINGGENBERG, DOMINIK ROESCH
Although algorithmic trading now dominates financial markets, some exchanges continue to use human floor traders. On March 23, 2020 the NYSE suspended floor trading because of COVID‐19. Using a difference‐in‐differences analysis around the closure of the floor, we find that floor traders are important contributors to market quality. The suspension of floor trading leads to higher spreads and larger pricing errors for treated stocks relative to control stocks. To explore the mechanism, we exploit two partial floor reopenings that have different characteristics. Our finding suggests that in‐person human interaction facilitates the transfer of valuable information that algorithms lack.
{"title":"Does Floor Trading Matter?","authors":"JONATHAN BROGAARD, MATTHEW C. RINGGENBERG, DOMINIK ROESCH","doi":"10.1111/jofi.13401","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jofi.13401","url":null,"abstract":"Although algorithmic trading now dominates financial markets, some exchanges continue to use human floor traders. On March 23, 2020 the NYSE suspended floor trading because of COVID‐19. Using a difference‐in‐differences analysis around the closure of the floor, we find that floor traders are important contributors to market quality. The suspension of floor trading leads to higher spreads and larger pricing errors for treated stocks relative to control stocks. To explore the mechanism, we exploit two partial floor reopenings that have different characteristics. Our finding suggests that in‐person human interaction facilitates the transfer of valuable information that algorithms lack.","PeriodicalId":15753,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Finance","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":8.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142519384","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
We use a large cross section of equity returns to estimate a rich affine model of equity prices, dividends, returns, and their dynamics. Our model prices dividend strips of the market and equity portfolios without using strips data in the estimation. Yet model-implied equity yields closely match yields on traded strips. Our model extends equity term-structure data over time (to the 1970s) and across maturities, and generates term structures for various equity portfolios. The novel cross section of term structures from our model covers 45 years and includes several recessions, providing a novel set of empirical moments to discipline asset pricing models.
{"title":"Equity Term Structures without Dividend Strips Data","authors":"STEFANO GIGLIO, BRYAN KELLY, SERHIY KOZAK","doi":"10.1111/jofi.13394","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jofi.13394","url":null,"abstract":"We use a large cross section of equity returns to estimate a rich affine model of equity prices, dividends, returns, and their dynamics. Our model prices dividend strips of the market and equity portfolios without using strips data in the estimation. Yet model-implied equity yields closely match yields on traded strips. Our model extends equity term-structure data over time (to the 1970s) and across maturities, and generates term structures for various equity portfolios. The novel cross section of term structures from our model covers 45 years and includes several recessions, providing a novel set of empirical moments to discipline asset pricing models.","PeriodicalId":15753,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Finance","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":8.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142488732","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The pricing of carbon transition risk is central to the debate on climate‐aware investments. Emissions are tightly linked to sales and are available to investors only with significant lags. The positive carbon return, or brown‐minus‐green return differential, documented in previous studies arises from forward‐looking firm performance information contained in emissions rather than a risk premium in ex ante expected returns. After accounting for the data release lag, carbon returns turn negative in the United States and insignificant globally. Developed markets experience lower carbon returns due to intense climate concern shocks, while countries with stringent climate policies exhibit higher carbon returns.
{"title":"Carbon Returns across the Globe","authors":"SHAOJUN ZHANG","doi":"10.1111/jofi.13402","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jofi.13402","url":null,"abstract":"The pricing of carbon transition risk is central to the debate on climate‐aware investments. Emissions are tightly linked to sales and are available to investors only with significant lags. The positive carbon return, or brown‐minus‐green return differential, documented in previous studies arises from forward‐looking firm performance information contained in emissions rather than a risk premium in ex ante expected returns. After accounting for the data release lag, carbon returns turn negative in the United States and insignificant globally. Developed markets experience lower carbon returns due to intense climate concern shocks, while countries with stringent climate policies exhibit higher carbon returns.","PeriodicalId":15753,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Finance","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":8.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142487658","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
HUIFENG CHANG, ADRIEN D'AVERNAS, ANDREA L. EISFELDT
We provide a simple model of investment by a firm funded with debt and equity and empirical evidence to demonstrate that, once we control for the debt overhang problem with credit spreads, asset volatility is an unambiguously positive signal for investment, while equity volatility sends a mixed signal: Elevated volatility raises the option value of equity and increases investment for financially sound firms, but exacerbates debt overhang and decreases investment for firms close to default. Our study provides a simple unified understanding of the structural and empirical relationships between investment, credit spreads, equity versus asset volatility, leverage, and Tobin's .
{"title":"Bonds versus Equities: Information for Investment","authors":"HUIFENG CHANG, ADRIEN D'AVERNAS, ANDREA L. EISFELDT","doi":"10.1111/jofi.13396","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jofi.13396","url":null,"abstract":"We provide a simple model of investment by a firm funded with debt and equity and empirical evidence to demonstrate that, once we control for the debt overhang problem with credit spreads, <i>asset</i> volatility is an unambiguously <i>positive</i> signal for investment, while <i>equity</i> volatility sends a mixed signal: Elevated volatility raises the option value of equity and increases investment for financially sound firms, but exacerbates debt overhang and decreases investment for firms close to default. Our study provides a simple unified understanding of the structural and empirical relationships between investment, credit spreads, equity versus asset volatility, leverage, and Tobin's <span data-altimg=\"/cms/asset/52a82e8e-829e-4729-835c-523d374be391/jofi13396-math-0001.png\"></span><mjx-container ctxtmenu_counter=\"762\" ctxtmenu_oldtabindex=\"1\" jax=\"CHTML\" role=\"application\" sre-explorer- style=\"font-size: 103%; position: relative;\" tabindex=\"0\"><mjx-math aria-hidden=\"true\" location=\"graphic/jofi13396-math-0001.png\"><mjx-semantics><mjx-mi data-semantic-annotation=\"clearspeak:simple\" data-semantic-font=\"italic\" data-semantic- data-semantic-role=\"latinletter\" data-semantic-speech=\"q\" data-semantic-type=\"identifier\"><mjx-c></mjx-c></mjx-mi></mjx-semantics></mjx-math><mjx-assistive-mml display=\"inline\" unselectable=\"on\"><math altimg=\"urn:x-wiley:00221082:media:jofi13396:jofi13396-math-0001\" display=\"inline\" location=\"graphic/jofi13396-math-0001.png\" xmlns=\"http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML\"><semantics><mi data-semantic-=\"\" data-semantic-annotation=\"clearspeak:simple\" data-semantic-font=\"italic\" data-semantic-role=\"latinletter\" data-semantic-speech=\"q\" data-semantic-type=\"identifier\">q</mi>$q$</annotation></semantics></math></mjx-assistive-mml></mjx-container>.","PeriodicalId":15753,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Finance","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":8.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142451900","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
We study the impact of rising mortgage rates on mobility and labor reallocation. Using individual-level credit record data and variation in the timing of mortgage origination, we show that a 1 percentage point decline in the difference between mortgage rates locked in at origination and current rates reduces moving by 9% overall and 16% between 2022 and 2024, and this relationship is asymmetric. Mortgage lock-in also dampens flows in and out of self-employment and the responsiveness to shocks to nearby employment opportunities that require moving, measured as wage growth within a 50- to 150-mile ring and instrumented with a shift-share instrument.
{"title":"Mortgage Lock-In, Mobility, and Labor Reallocation","authors":"JULIA FONSECA, LU LIU","doi":"10.1111/jofi.13398","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jofi.13398","url":null,"abstract":"We study the impact of rising mortgage rates on mobility and labor reallocation. Using individual-level credit record data and variation in the timing of mortgage origination, we show that a 1 percentage point decline in the difference between mortgage rates locked in at origination and current rates reduces moving by 9% overall and 16% between 2022 and 2024, and this relationship is asymmetric. Mortgage lock-in also dampens flows in and out of self-employment and the responsiveness to shocks to nearby employment opportunities that require moving, measured as wage growth within a 50- to 150-mile ring and instrumented with a shift-share instrument.","PeriodicalId":15753,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Finance","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":8.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142451901","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
I present a model of consumption and savings for a multiperson household in which members are imperfectly altruistic, derive utility from both private and shared public goods, and share wealth. I show that, despite having standard exponential time preferences, the household is time‐inconsistent: Members save too little and overspend on private consumption goods. The household remains time‐inconsistent even when members save separately, because the possibility of voluntary transfers or joint contribution to the public good preserves the dynamic commons problem. The household will choose to share wealth when the risk‐sharing benefits outweigh the utility cost of overconsumption.
{"title":"Time‐Consistent Individuals, Time‐Inconsistent Households","authors":"ANDREW HERTZBERG","doi":"10.1111/jofi.13392","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jofi.13392","url":null,"abstract":"I present a model of consumption and savings for a multiperson household in which members are imperfectly altruistic, derive utility from both private and shared public goods, and share wealth. I show that, despite having standard exponential time preferences, the household is time‐inconsistent: Members save too little and overspend on private consumption goods. The household remains time‐inconsistent even when members save separately, because the possibility of voluntary transfers or joint contribution to the public good preserves the dynamic commons problem. The household will choose to share wealth when the risk‐sharing benefits outweigh the utility cost of overconsumption.","PeriodicalId":15753,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Finance","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":8.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142448164","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Using detailed account-level data, this paper explores how financial sophistication affects consumers' spending responses to changes in income. I document that, controlling for liquidity, financially unsophisticated consumers display significant spending responses to predictable decreases in their disposable income. Furthermore, they have lower savings rates, fewer liquid savings, and higher debt-to-income ratios, leaving them more exposed to income shocks. Robustness tests, supported by anecdotal survey evidence, indicate that these results are driven by some consumers' lack of financial sophistication and their consequent failure to understand their financial contracts, rather than by random idiosyncratic shocks, rational liquidity management, or optimal inattention.
{"title":"Financial Sophistication and Consumer Spending","authors":"ADAM TEJS JØRRING","doi":"10.1111/jofi.13393","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jofi.13393","url":null,"abstract":"Using detailed account-level data, this paper explores how financial sophistication affects consumers' spending responses to changes in income. I document that, controlling for liquidity, financially unsophisticated consumers display significant spending responses to predictable decreases in their disposable income. Furthermore, they have lower savings rates, fewer liquid savings, and higher debt-to-income ratios, leaving them more exposed to income shocks. Robustness tests, supported by anecdotal survey evidence, indicate that these results are driven by some consumers' lack of financial sophistication and their consequent failure to understand their financial contracts, rather than by random idiosyncratic shocks, rational liquidity management, or optimal inattention.","PeriodicalId":15753,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Finance","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":8.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142444525","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}