| This dissertation focuses on firm diversification. In particular, this dissertation investigates the valuation effects and the risk effects of corporate diversification. The dissertation consists of two essays.; Essay 1, “The diversification discount and growth opportunities: Another look at the effect of corporate diversification on firm value,” investigates whether corporate diversification reduces firm value. Previous studies establish a diversification discount by comparing business segments of diversified firms with stand-alone industry medians (means). However, business segments in diversified firms and the median (mean) stand-alone firms in the same industry may not be comparable because they may have different growth opportunities, which usually constitute a significant portion of firm value. Consequently, the observed diversification discount may result from the inappropriate use of benchmarks. In this essay, we use individual stand-alone industry firms of similar growth opportunities as benchmarks for business segments in diversified firms. Using a sample of 218 diversifying firms covering the period of 1994–2000, we find that when business segments in diversifying firms are compared with their stand-alone industry counterparts of comparable growth opportunities, the diversification discount still exists. We thus provide evidence suggesting that corporate diversification does destroy firm value, which is consistent with Lang and Stulz (1994), Berger and Ofek (1995, 1999), and Lamont and Polk (2002).; Essay 2, “Does corporate diversification reduce firm risk? An empirical analysis,” investigates whether corporate diversification reduces firm risk. While it has been argued and generally assumed that corporate diversification reduces firm risk, there is a paucity of empirical evidence concerning the association between corporate diversification and lower firm risk. Given the observed puzzles associated with corporate diversification, one should not take this association for granted without empirical evidence. In this essay, we empirically investigate the relationship between corporate diversification and firm risk using various risk measures including the variance of stock returns, systematic risk and firm-specific risk measures based both on the traditional single-factor market model and the Fama and French (1993) three-factor model, and time-varying risk estimates based on generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (GARCH) estimations. Using a sample of 257 diversifying firms defined as firms that start with a single segment and then diversify at some point of time during the sample period of 1994–2000, we find that rather than reducing firm risk, corporate diversification typically increases the levels of firm risk, thereby rejecting the risk reduction hypothesis of firm diversification. |
