Agency costs and the size discount: evidence from acquisitions

Many scholars have found a negative relationship between a firm’s size and its value, as measured by Tobin’s q. This result is called the size discount. There are hypotheses about why the size discount exists, but none have been rigorously empirically tested. This paper argues that the size discount...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Offenberg, David
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2010
País:Perú
Institución:Universidad ESAN
Repositorio:ESAN-Institucional
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.esan.edu.pe:20.500.12640/2661
Acceso en línea:https://revistas.esan.edu.pe/index.php/jefas/article/view/270
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12640/2661
https://doi.org/10.46631/jefas.2010.v15n29.05
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Agency costs
Size discount
Acquisitions
Corporate governance
Costos de agencia
Descuento por tamaño
Adquisiciones
Gobierno corporativo
https://purl.org/pe-repo/ocde/ford#5.02.04
Descripción
Sumario:Many scholars have found a negative relationship between a firm’s size and its value, as measured by Tobin’s q. This result is called the size discount. There are hypotheses about why the size discount exists, but none have been rigorously empirically tested. This paper argues that the size discount is created by the inability of shareholders to minimize agency costs in larger companies. Statistical tests suggest that the size discount only appears in large firms with managers that impose excessive agency costs upon their shareholders. Empiricists who use Tobin’s q to proxy for growth opportunities may need a different proxy.