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Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis Vol. 57 No. 4 2022

Corporate R&D and Stock Returns: International Evidence

Kewei Hou; Po-Hsuan Hsu; Shiheng Wang; Akiko Watanabe; Yan Xu

open access

Abstract

Firms with higher R&D intensity subsequently experience higher stock returns in international stock markets, highlighting the role of intangible investments in international asset pricing. The R&D effect is stronger in countries where growth option risk is more likely priced, but is unrelated to country characteristics representing market sentiments and limits-of-arbitrage. Moreover, we find that R&D intensity is associated with higher future operating performance, return volatility, and default likelihood. Our evidence suggests that the cross sectional relation between R&D intensity and stock returns is more likely attributable to risk premium than to mispricing.

DOI
10.1017/s002210902100020x
Volume
57
Issue
4
Pages
1377-1408
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

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