Essays On Firm Behaviors And Performance Under Information Asymmetry And Uncertainty PDF Download

This dissertation consists of three essays exploring firm behaviors and performance under information asymmetry and uncertainty. While the first two essays examine investment in firms and divestment by firms respectively by depending on real options theory, the final essay investigates determinants of performance of microenterprises receiving microfinance funds. In the first essay (Chapter 1), I examine the determinants of private investments in firms newly going public through reverse mergers (RMs). Using real options theory, I argue that reverse merger firms (i.e., firms going public through reverse merger) with institutional and industrial backgrounds, indicating a wider distribution of potential future values, will attract larger investments. I further examine how an institutional change reducing the cost of initial public offerings (IPOs), which is the more lucrative alternative to the reverse merger, affects investment in reverse merger firms. I thus argue that the influence of those backgrounds on the investment size in RM firms will be weaker. Using data of reverse mergers in the United States from 2009 to 2014, I found empirical support for my arguments. My second essay (Chapter 2) explores the determinants of foreign subsidiary divestment by multinational corporations (MNCs). I argue that MNCs with higher operational flexibility and/or cultural diversity will be less likely to divest their foreign subsidiaries even if those subsidiaries confront host country economic downturn. Using a panel data of 511 Korean MNCs and event history analysis, I found empirical support for our arguments. In my third essay (Chapter 3), I investigate the determinants of performance improvement of microenterprises receiving microfinance funds. I argue that damage from a natural disaster that increases a microenterprise’s risks of going out of business will provide entrepreneurs with self-control incentives to use microfinance funds effectively. Thus, the entrepreneurs’ self-control incentives will be positively associated with microenterprises’ post-funding performance improvement. I also contend that cash is more effective than in-kind funds in improving microenterprise performance by generating fewer moral hazards. Using a sample of Sri Lankan microenterprises that experienced a tsunami and difference-in-difference estimations, I found empirical support for my arguments.