Why Are Successive Cohorts of Listed Firms Persistently Riskier?
European Financial Management Journal, Forthcoming
61 Pages Posted: 30 Jan 2016 Last revised: 3 Feb 2016
Date Written: January 15, 2016
Abstract
Prior studies show that the risk level of each new cohort of listed firms is higher than its predecessor’s. We find that these risk differences are persistent and investigate two potential explanations: (1) Each cohort adopts and retains operating innovations that are associated with higher risks and (2) increasing numbers of younger and less-experienced firms are represented in each new cohort. Our results support the first explanation. Each new cohort uses riskier production technologies and operates in more competitive product markets than its predecessor.
Keywords: Idiosyncratic risk, earnings volatility, intangible investments, product market uncertainty
JEL Classification: M41, G11, G32
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation