[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/corfin/v50y2018icp519-537.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Corporate pension plans and investment choices: Bargaining or conforming?

Author

Listed:
  • Duygun, Meryem
  • Huang, Bihong
  • Qian, Xiaolin
  • Tam, Lewis H.K.
Abstract
This paper investigates the impacts of defined-benefit (DB) pension plans on the corporate investment choices between diversifying and non-diversifying investments. We find a firm's DB plan coverage is negatively associated with its propensity of making a major investment. Subject to a major investment decision, however, the firms with higher DB plan coverage is more likely to diversify, i.e. acquire firms abroad or in other industries, rather than invest in fixed assets or make non-diversifying (i.e. domestic horizontal) acquisitions. Moreover, in diversifying acquisitions, they are more likely to invest in countries or industries with strongly unionized workforce. Further analysis on post-investment performance shows that firms with higher DB plan coverage experience a greater improvement in operating profitability after a diversifying acquisition, and the improvement mainly comes from a higher asset turnover rather than cost reduction. On the other hand, DB plan sponsoring firms experience a decline in profitability after a large capital expenditure or a non-diversifying acquisition. We propose both bargaining motive and conforming motive can explain these results.

Suggested Citation

  • Duygun, Meryem & Huang, Bihong & Qian, Xiaolin & Tam, Lewis H.K., 2018. "Corporate pension plans and investment choices: Bargaining or conforming?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 519-537.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:corfin:v:50:y:2018:i:c:p:519-537
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2017.10.005
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0929119917305989
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2017.10.005?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. George A. Akerlof & Janet L. Yellen, 1990. "The Fair Wage-Effort Hypothesis and Unemployment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 105(2), pages 255-283.
    2. Kandice Kapinos, 2009. "On the Determinants of Defined Benefit Pension Plan Conversions," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 30(2), pages 149-167, June.
    3. Joseph A Clougherty & Klaus Gugler & Lars Sørgard & Florian W Szücs, 2014. "Cross-border mergers and domestic-firm wages: Integrating “spillover effects” and “bargaining effects”," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 45(4), pages 450-470, May.
    4. Juan C. Botero & Simeon Djankov & Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 2004. "The Regulation of Labor," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(4), pages 1339-1382.
    5. Rebecca N. Hann & Maria Ogneva & Oguzhan Ozbas, 2013. "Corporate Diversification and the Cost of Capital," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 68(5), pages 1961-1999, October.
    6. Anand M. Goel & Anjan V. Thakor, 2005. "Green with Envy: Implications for Corporate Investment Distortions," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 78(6), pages 2255-2288, November.
    7. Gaspar, Jose-Miguel & Massa, Massimo & Matos, Pedro, 2005. "Shareholder investment horizons and the market for corporate control," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(1), pages 135-165, April.
    8. Miguel A. Ferreira & Massimo Massa & Pedro Matos, 2010. "Shareholders at the Gate? Institutional Investors and Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisitions," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(2), pages 601-644, February.
    9. Marina Martynova & Luc Renneboog, 2010. "Spillover of Corporate Governance Standards in Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisition," Chapters, in: Alessio M. Pacces (ed.), The Law and Economics of Corporate Governance, chapter 3, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    10. Perotti, Enrico C & Spier, Kathryn E, 1993. "Capital Structure as a Bargaining Tool: The Role of Leverage in Contract Renegotiation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(5), pages 1131-1141, December.
    11. Kjell Erik Lommerud & Odd Rune Straume & Lars Sørgard, 2006. "National versus international mergers in unionized oligopoly," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 37(1), pages 212-233, March.
    12. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W., 2003. "Stock market driven acquisitions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(3), pages 295-311, December.
    13. Jonathan B. Berk & Richard Stanton & Josef Zechner, 2010. "Human Capital, Bankruptcy, and Capital Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(3), pages 891-926, June.
    14. Kjell Erik Lommerud & Frode Meland & Lars S¯rgard, 2003. "Unionised Oligopoly, Trade Liberalisation and Location Choice," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 113(490), pages 782-800, October.
    15. Comprix, Joseph & Muller, Karl A., 2011. "Pension plan accounting estimates and the freezing of defined benefit pension plans," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 115-133.
    16. Baldwin, Carliss Y, 1983. "Productivity and Labor Unions: An Application of the Theory of Self-Enforcing Contracts," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56(2), pages 155-185, April.
    17. An Yan, 2006. "Value of Conglomerates and Capital Market Conditions," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 35(4), Winter.
    18. Blouin, Jennifer & Core, John E. & Guay, Wayne, 2010. "Have the tax benefits of debt been overestimated?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(2), pages 195-213, November.
    19. Scholes, Myron S & Wolfson, Mark A, 1990. "The Effects of Changes in Tax Laws on Corporate Reorganization Activity," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 63(1), pages 141-164, January.
    20. Bris, Arturo & Brisley, Neil & Cabolis, Christos, 2008. "Adopting better corporate governance: Evidence from cross-border mergers," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 224-240, June.
    21. Titman, Sheridan, 1984. "The effect of capital structure on a firm's liquidation decision," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 137-151, March.
    22. Grout, Paul A, 1984. "Investment and Wages in the Absence of Binding Contracts: A Nash Bargining Approach," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(2), pages 449-460, March.
    23. Klasa, Sandy & Maxwell, William F. & Ortiz-Molina, Hernán, 2009. "The strategic use of corporate cash holdings in collective bargaining with labor unions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(3), pages 421-442, June.
    24. Bae, Kee-Hong & Kang, Jun-Koo & Wang, Jin, 2011. "Employee treatment and firm leverage: A test of the stakeholder theory of capital structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(1), pages 130-153, April.
    25. Rhodes-Kropf, Matthew & Robinson, David T. & Viswanathan, S., 2005. "Valuation waves and merger activity: The empirical evidence," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(3), pages 561-603, September.
    26. Cocco, João F. & Volpin, Paolo F., 2013. "Corporate Pension Plans as Takeover Deterrents," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 48(4), pages 1119-1144, August.
    27. Arturo Bris & Christos Cabolis, 2008. "The Value of Investor Protection: Firm Evidence from Cross-Border Mergers," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 21(2), pages 605-648, April.
    28. Chemmanur, Thomas J. & Cheng, Yingmei & Zhang, Tianming, 2013. "Human capital, capital structure, and employee pay: An empirical analysis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(2), pages 478-502.
    29. David C. Rose, 1991. "Are Strikes Less Effective in Conglomerate Firms?," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 45(1), pages 131-144, October.
    30. Bronars, Stephen G & Deere, Donald R, 1993. "Unionization, Incomplete Contracting, and Capital Investment," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 66(1), pages 117-132, January.
    31. Joshua D. Rauh, 2006. "Investment and Financing Constraints: Evidence from the Funding of Corporate Pension Plans," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(1), pages 33-71, February.
    32. Harry P. Huizinga & Johannes Voget, 2009. "International Taxation and the Direction and Volume of Cross‐Border M&As," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(3), pages 1217-1249, June.
    33. Eckel, Carsten & Egger, Hartmut, 2009. "Wage bargaining and multinational firms," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(2), pages 206-214, April.
    34. Rossi, Stefano & Volpin, Paolo F., 2004. "Cross-country determinants of mergers and acquisitions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(2), pages 277-304, November.
    35. Joshua Rauh & Irina Stefanescu & Stephen Zeldes, 2013. "Cost shifting and the freezing of corporate pension plans," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2013-82, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    36. Comprix, Joseph & Muller III, Karl A., 2011. "Pension plan accounting estimates and the freezing of defined benefit pension plans," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(1-2), pages 115-133, February.
    37. Hovakimian, Gayané, 2011. "Financial constraints and investment efficiency: Internal capital allocation across the business cycle," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 264-283, April.
    38. Fatemi, Ali M, 1984. "Shareholder Benefits from Corporate International Diversification," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 39(5), pages 1325-1344, December.
    39. Justin R. Pierce & Peter K. Schott, 2009. "A Concordance Between Ten-Digit U.S. Harmonized System Codes and SIC/NAICS Product Classes and Industries," NBER Working Papers 15548, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    40. Tor‐Erik Bakke & Toni M. Whited, 2012. "Threshold Events and Identification: A Study of Cash Shortfalls," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 67(3), pages 1083-1111, June.
    41. David A. Matsa, 2010. "Capital Structure as a Strategic Variable: Evidence from Collective Bargaining," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(3), pages 1197-1232, June.
    42. Anil Shivdasani & Irina Stefanescu, 2010. "How Do Pensions Affect Corporate Capital Structure Decisions?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(3), pages 1287-1323, March.
    43. Frank, Robert H, 1984. "Are Workers Paid Their Marginal Products?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 74(4), pages 549-571, September.
    44. Ugur Lel & Darius P. Miller, 2015. "Does Takeover Activity Cause Managerial Discipline? Evidence from International M&A Laws," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 28(6), pages 1588-1622.
    45. Lazear, Edward P, 1989. "Pay Equality and Industrial Politics," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(3), pages 561-580, June.
    46. Chen, Xia & Harford, Jarrad & Li, Kai, 2007. "Monitoring: Which institutions matter?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(2), pages 279-305, November.
    47. Kandice Kapinos, 2009. "On the Determinants of Defined Benefit Pension Plan Conversions," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 149-167, June.
    48. An Yan, 2006. "Value of Conglomerates and Capital Market Conditions," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 35(4), pages 5-30, December.
    49. Fritz Foley, C. & Hartzell, Jay C. & Titman, Sheridan & Twite, Garry, 2007. "Why do firms hold so much cash? A tax-based explanation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(3), pages 579-607, December.
    50. Ahern, Kenneth R. & Daminelli, Daniele & Fracassi, Cesare, 2015. "Lost in translation? The effect of cultural values on mergers around the world," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(1), pages 165-189.
    51. repec:bla:jfinan:v:59:y:2004:i:6:p:2685-2718 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Dunbar, Craig G. & King, Michael R., 2023. "Syndicate structure and IPO outcomes: The impact of underwriter roles and syndicate concentration," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    2. Almaghrabi, Khadija S., 2023. "Non‐operating risk and cash holdings: Evidence from pension risk," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    3. Wei Huang & Bin Qiu, 2022. "Passive insider trading before pension freezes," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 45(3), pages 607-631, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Xie, En & Reddy, K.S. & Liang, Jie, 2017. "Country-specific determinants of cross-border mergers and acquisitions: A comprehensive review and future research directions," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 127-183.
    2. Schmalz, Martin, 2018. "Unionization, Cash, and Leverage," CEPR Discussion Papers 12595, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. David A. Matsa, 2018. "Capital Structure and a Firm’s Workforce," NBER Working Papers 25125, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Rauh, Joshua D. & Stefanescu, Irina & Zeldes, Stephen P., 2020. "Cost saving and the freezing of corporate pension plans," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    5. Ellul, Andrew & Pagano, Marco, 2019. "Corporate leverage and employees’ rights in bankruptcy," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(3), pages 685-707.
    6. Reddy, Kotapati Srinivasa, 2015. "Determinants of Cross-border Mergers and Acquisitions: A Comprehensive Review and Future Direction," MPRA Paper 63969, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2015.
    7. Joshua D. Rauh & Irina Stefanescu & Stephen P. Zeldes, 2020. "Cost Saving and the Freezing of Corporate Pension Plans," NBER Working Papers 27251, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Isil Erel & Rose C. Liao & Michael S. Weisbach, 2009. "World Markets for Mergers and Acquisitions," NBER Working Papers 15132, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Ahmad, Muhammad Farooq & Lambert, Thomas, 2019. "Collective bargaining and mergers and acquisitions activity around the world," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 21-44.
    10. Hsu, Junming & Yang, Tung-Hsiao & Tsai, Yi-Chi, 2021. "The long-run performance of cross-border acquirers: An analysis of synergy sources," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    11. Bas, Maria & Carluccio, Juan, 2009. "Wage bargaining and the boundaries of the multinational firm," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 28700, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    12. Pagano, Marco, 2020. "Risk Sharing Within the Firm: A Primer," Foundations and Trends(R) in Finance, now publishers, vol. 12(2), pages 117-198, October.
    13. Chaudhry, Neeru & Kattamuri, Rohit, 2024. "Do defined contribution plans create value for shareholders?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 616-633.
    14. Ross Levine & Chen Lin & Beibei Shen, 2015. "Cross-border Acquisitions and Labor Regulations," NBER Working Papers 21245, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Wang, Zhe & Jiang, Dianchun & Zhang, Ming, 2024. "Seeking new location advantages: Analysis of emerging digital cross-border M&As—Based on TIMG index," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(2).
    16. Martynova, Marina & Renneboog, Luc, 2008. "A century of corporate takeovers: What have we learned and where do we stand?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(10), pages 2148-2177, October.
    17. Wei Huang & Bin Qiu, 2022. "Passive insider trading before pension freezes," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 45(3), pages 607-631, September.
    18. Ellul, Andrew & WANG, Cong & Zhang, Kuo, 2016. "Labor Unemployment Risk and CEO Incentive Compensation," CEPR Discussion Papers 11634, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    19. Di Giuli, Alberta & Matta, Rafael & Romec, Arthur, 2023. "Capital structure and reversible bargaining tools: Evidence from union-sponsored shareholder proposals," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    20. Wolfgang Breuer & Bushra Ghufran & Astrid Juliane Salzmann, 2020. "Investors' time preferences and takeover performance," Post-Print hal-02508909, HAL.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Defined-benefit pension; DB plan coverage; Bargaining power; Conforming motive; Diversifying acquisitions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General
    • G31 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Capital Budgeting; Fixed Investment and Inventory Studies
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:corfin:v:50:y:2018:i:c:p:519-537. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jcorpfin .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.