The real determinants of asset sales

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Yang, Liu
• 署名单位: University of California System; University of California Los Angeles
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF FINANCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-1082
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.2008.01396.x
• 发表日期: 2008
• 页码: 2231-2262
• 关键词: agency costs; MARKET; diversification; valuation; mergers

摘要

I develop a dynamic structural model in which a firm makes rational decisions to buy or sell assets in the presence of productivity shocks. By identifying equilibrium asset prices, the model also examines the aggregate asset sales activity over the business cycle. It shows that changes in productivity, rather than productivity levels, affect decisions: Firms with rising productivity buy assets and firms with falling productivity downsize (rising buys falling). As such, industries in which firms have less persistent and more volatile productivity experience greater asset reallocation. Using plant-level data from Longitudinal Research Database (LRD), I find strong support for the model's predictions.