Information flows among rivals and corporate investment
Journal
Journal of Financial Economics
Subject
Accounting
Publishing details
Authors / Editors
Bernard D;Blackburne T;Thornock J
Publication Year
2020
Abstract
Using a novel pairwise measure of firms' acquisitions of rivals' disclosures, we show that investment opportunities drive interfirm information flows. We find that these flows predict subsequent mergers and acquisitions as well as how and how much firms invest, relative to rivals. Moreover, firms' use of rivals' information often hinges on the similarities of their products. Our results suggest that rivals' public information, far from being unusable, helps facilitate investment and product decisions, including acquisitions and product differentiation strategies. The findings also support a learning mechanism that could partly underlie the emerging literature on peer investment effects.
Available on ECCH
No