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Spin-offs, Divestitures, and Conglomerate Investment

Gönül Çolak1; Toni M. Whited2

1 Wichita State University · 2 University of Wisconsin

Review of Financial Studies 2007

We examine whether spin-offs or divestitures cause improvements in conglomerate investment efficiency. At issue are endogeneity of these restructuring decisions and correct measurement of investment efficiency. Endogeneity is a problem because the factors that induce firms to spin off or divest divisions may also improve investment efficiency; measurement error is a problem because efficiency measures employ Tobin’s q as a noisy proxy for investment opportunities. We find important differences between firms that divest or spin off and a control sample. After accounting for these differences and for measurement error in q, we find no evidence of improvements in investment efficiency.

DOI
10.1093/rfs/hhl022
Volume
20 (3)
Pages
557-595
Language
en
Export
BibTeX
Sources
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