← Search

Journal of Financial Economics Vol. 110 No. 2 2013

The performance of corporate alliances: Evidence from oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico

John Beshears1,2

1 Boston Public Library · 2 Harvard University

open access

Abstract

I use data on oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico to measure how a corporate alliance—a group of firms that jointly develops an offshore tract—performs relative to a solo firm. I employ a regression discontinuity strategy based on bids in first-price sealed-bid auctions for the rights to develop leases. By focusing on leases where one organizational form narrowly outbids the other, I measure drilling outcomes while controlling for the endogenous matching of projects and organizational forms. Solo firm leases are less profitable than alliance leases because alliance members combine their information and expertise.

DOI
10.1016/j.jfineco.2013.07.005
Volume
110
Issue
2
Pages
324-346
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

Cite