A Q Theory of Internal Capital Markets
64 Pages Posted: 3 Nov 2020
There are 2 versions of this paper
A Q Theory of Internal Capital Markets
Date Written: October 2020
Abstract
We propose a tractable model of dynamic investment, division sales (spinoffs), financing, and risk management for a multi-division firm that faces costly external finance. The model highlights the importance of considering the intertwined nature of the different policies. Our main results are as follows: (1) risk management considerations prescribe the allocation of resources based not only on the divisions' productivity -- as in standard models of ''winner picking'' -- but also their risk; (2) firms may choose to voluntarily spin off productive divisions to increase liquidity; (3) diversification can reduce firm value especially in low liquidity states, as it increases the cost of a spinoff and hampers liquidity management; (4) with corporate socialism, liquidity is less valuable since it is less costly to replenish the firm's liquidity through a spinoff; and (5) division-level investment is set such that the ratio between marginal q and the marginal cost of investing in each division equals the marginal value of cash.
JEL Classification: D92, G3, L25
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation