The Effects of Owner Idendity and Financial Markets on R&D Investments: A 
Study of Western European Firms

Munari, Federico; Oriani, Raffaele; Sobrero, Maurizio

doi:10.2139/ssrn.717684

Abstract

References (61)

Citations (3)

Download This Paper | Share | Email |Add to Briefcase

The Effects of Owner Idendity and Financial Markets on R&D Investments: A
Study of Western European Firms

Federico Munari

University of Bologna - Department of Management

University of Bologna - Department of Management

November 2005

Abstract:
In this paper we theoretically analyze and empirically test the influence of stock market investors, the degree of ownership concentration and the identity of large shareholders on firm-level R&D investments. Our analysis is based on a unique dataset of 1,000 firms publicly traded in six European countries (France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Sweden and the UK). Controlling for industry- and firm-level effects, our findings show that a high share of institutional investors within national financial markets is negatively associated with widely held corporations' R&D investments. Moreover, higher shares held by families and financial institutions in a firm's ownership are negatively associated with R&D investments. Results are robust to potential sample selection biases due to firms' discretional R&D disclosure.

Keywords: Corporate Governance, Ownwership Structure, R&D, Innovation, Market Value

JEL Classification: G15, G32, O31, O33

working papers series

Download This Paper

Date posted: May 9, 2005

Suggested Citation

Munari, Federico, Oriani, Raffaele and Sobrero, Maurizio, The Effects of Owner Idendity and Financial Markets on R&D Investments: A Study of Western European Firms (November 2005). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=717684 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.717684

Contact Information

Federico Munari (Contact Author) University of Bologna - Department of Management ( email ) Piazza Scaravilli 1 Bologna, Bologna 40126 ITALY 051-2093954 (Phone) 051-2093949 (Fax)
Raffaele Oriani Luiss Guido Carli University ( email ) Viale Romania, 32 Rome, 00196 Italy +390685225908 (Phone)
Maurizio Sobrero University of Bologna - Department of Management ( email ) Via Capo di Lucca 34 40126 Bologna, Bologna 40126 Italy +39 051 2098076 (Phone)