公司价值的随机优化模型

本文研究了净现金流为随机过程情况下的企业价值,并建立了企业价值的随机优化模型。探讨了在一定的风险水平和其它相关约束条件下,确定企业的资本结构、企业债务的承担能力等,使得公司价值最大化,并应用于实际项目中。     

The impact of tax uncertainty on irreversible investment

Traditional models of capital budgeting with taxes are based on deterministic tax rates and tax bases. In reality, however, there are multiple sources of tax uncertainty. Frequent tax reforms make future taxation of investments a stochastic process. Fiscal authorities and tax courts create additional tax uncertainty by interpreting current tax laws differently. Moreover, simplified models that anticipate the actual tax base incorrectly contribute to tax uncertainty as perceived by investors. I analyze the effects of stochastic taxation on investment behavior in a real options model. The investor holds an option to invest in an irreversible project with stochastic cash flows and stochastic tax payments. Pre-tax cash flows and tax payments are assumed to be correlated. Increased tax uncertainty has an ambiguous impact on investment timing. For low tax uncertainty, high cash flow uncertainty and high correlation of cash flows and tax payments, increased tax uncertainty is likely to accelerate investment. A higher expected tax payment delays investment. A higher after-tax discount rate affects investment timing ambiguously.     

But Will it Raise My Share Price? New Thoughts About an Old Question

In valuing any investment project or acquisition, executives must decide what discount rate to use to estimate the value of the projected cash flows. This paper argues that the traditional approach, which bases its estimate of the company’s cost of capital on the Capital Asset Pricing Model, places the company at risk. Specifically, ‘beta’ is unreliable and captures only a portion of the risk that managers and shareholders agree are important. The authors then offer an alternative measure—reflecting a company’s total risk—that they say provides a reliable estimate and is consistent with the evolving theory of strategic management.     

交叉上市、治理环境与上市公司超额现金价值

从超额现金持有价值的角度,将治理环境和治理约束的改变引入到公司治理与公司价值的研究框架中。以1998年至2011年中国A股上市公司的非平衡面板数据为研究对象,采用Dittmar等提出的公司超额现金持有量估计方法,在回归方程中加入交叉上市的虚拟变量,对比分析A股与AB股、AH股以及发行ADR企业所处治理环境的不同对超额现金持有价值的影响。实证结果表明,中国上市公司的超额现金持有普遍存在折价现象;只在A股市场上市的企业超额现金资产的边际价值为负;既在A股市场上市同时又在B股市场或H股市场交叉上市的企业,超额现金资产的折价程度降低,且私有上市公司的折价降低程度更加明显。上述结果表明严格的治理环境和治理约束有助于改善公司治理和降低现金资产折价;中国的A股上市公司,特别是私有公司,可以通过交叉上市增加外部治理约束降低现金资产的折价程度,提升公司价值。     

AUTOCORRELATED CASH FLOWS AND THE SELECTION OF A PORTFOLIO OF CAPITAL ASSETS *

Capital budgeting models for analyzing real assets typically are based on a set of restrictive assumptions that influence financial managers' decisions and may prevent optimization of the firm's objectives. This research examines the common restrictive assumption that cash flows are intertemporally independent by first developing an economic state and simulation model based on a Markov process for including autocorrelated cash flows in the capital budgeting decision process and then demonstrating why managers should include autocorrelated cash flows in capital budgeting models by empirically testing the impact of assuming intertemporally independent cash flows on capital budgeting decisions. The results indicate that ignoring autocorrelated cash flows seriously limits the ability of capital budgeting models to provide optimal investment decisions. The model also is very attractive for practical application because it can be implemented with a minimum number of estimates and provides the set of input data required by a number of capital budgeting models. A discussion of the implementation of the model is included.     

Coordinating Sales and Raw Material Discounts in a Global Supply Chain

In this paper, the supplier of a key component to a global manufacturer offers a one‐time price discount; we study the firm's optimal response to the discount under two different strategies. In the first strategy, the firm does not pass along the discount to its customers (sales subsidiaries); the firm simply coordinates purchasing and production among the different factories to take advantage of this one‐time price discount. In the second strategy, the firm offers price discounts for its most profitable products in different sales subsidiaries to increase their demand. We carried out experiments for the two strategies based on a mathematical programming model, built around Toshiba's global notebook supply chain. Model constraints include, among others, material constraints, bill‐of‐materials, capacity and transportation constraints, minimum lot size constraints, and a constraint on minimum fill rate (service level constraint). Unlike most models of this type in the literature, which define variables in terms of single arc flows, we employ path variables, which allow for direct identification and manipulation of profitable and non‐profitable products.     

Applied Capital Budgeting with Cash Flow Dependencies*

This article provides decision makers with a method of determining the variability and acceptability of a major capital investment. The model used here differs from previous models in that it does not use simulation, nor does it require a normal distribution for the cash flow component. Further, it has no restrictions on whether cash flows are dependent. An example of the technique is included.     

Internal corporate governance mechanisms as drivers of firm value: panel data evidence for Chilean firms

The paper analyses to what extent ownership structure, capital structure, and dividend policy as corporate governance mechanisms drive the firm value. From a data panel of publicly quoted Chilean firms for the years 2002–2010, we find that there is an inverse U-shaped relationship between ownership concentration and firm value. The positive slope is supported by the supervision hypothesis; whilst the negative relation between ownership concentration and firm value is supported by the expropriation hypothesis. We also find that there is a positive impact of both leverage and the dividend pay-out on the firm value. In this case, these two mechanisms reduce the free cash flows which otherwise might be used opportunistically by managers in their own interests (free rider problem). Contrary to the previous empirical literature in Chile, it is found that the mere fact that a firm is affiliated to a business group/conglomerate impacts positively its value. This positive effect is basically driven by the development of intragroup capital markets, and the governance imposed by the rules of the conglomerate.     

Unternehmensbewertung bei wertabhängiger und autonomer Finanzierungspolitik unter Berücksichtigung einer Kursgewinnbesteuerung

The German tax reform in 2009 entails the general taxation of realized capital gains. The objective of this paper is to investigate the effect of a differentiated taxation of dividend payments and capital gains on discounted cash flow valuations. We develop explicit und practical useful valuation formulas for the free cash flow approach in case of financing based on market values and the adjusted present value approach in case of autonomous financing. Furthermore it is shown how the required risk-adjusted cost of equity can be derived from a modified Tax-CAPM. Finally we discuss how the particularities resulting from the new German tax law can be taken into account in discounted cash flow valuations.     

Optimal repayment policies for multiple loans

This paper extends the applications of scheduling theory to certain problems in the area of finance. Specifically, a branch and bound algorithm to identify optimal repayment policies for multiple loans (credit purchases) has been developed. Each loan qualifies for a discount if it is paid on or before a certain date and a penalty is imposed if it is paid after its due date. These two dates are different in general. It is assumed that the cash for repayment is generated at a constant rate per day and it can be invested so that it continues to earn money until used for repayment. The objective is to minimize the present value of all future cash outflows.     

公司证券投资、所有权类型与资本结构决策关系研究

考察了股市收益波动与公司资本结构决策之间的关系,以此分析上市公司是否存在违规举债炒股行为。研究发现:股市收益波动与公司负债水平正相关,即上市公司会根据市场收益情况举债进行证券投资决策,这种正相关关系在非国有企业更为显著;政府的监管政策效果不明显。研究结果证实了上市公司存在违规举债炒股行为,检验了政策效果并明确了监管的重点与方向。     

生产还是消费——中国股市生产资本资产定价模型实证检验

生产资本资产定价模型从企业利润最大化角度出发,推出资产的均衡价格.相较于消费资本资产定价模型,生产资本资产定价模型能更好的满足信息完全和决策者理性的假设条件.本文从生产资本资产定价模型出发,利用现值模型将生产的系统性风险因子,即生产的贝塔因子分解为现金流贝塔和折现率贝塔,并采用社会总投资和股市数据进行实证检验.本文发现生产-现金流贝塔是中国股市的重要定价因子,可较好地解释股权溢价的截面差异.相比之下,消费资本资产定价模型对不同资产之间风险溢价的解释能力较弱.     

When labor representatives join supervisory boards: empirical evidence of the relationship between the change to parity codetermination and working capital and operating cash flows

We examine how the change to 50% labor representation on German supervisory boards is related to working capital and operating cash flows, since both are proxies for short-term financial policies. We expect the change to be associated with reduced working capital and increased operating cash flows. Using a difference-in-differences model, we compare a sample of listed and non-listed firms that changed to parity codetermination between 1987 and 2014 with two different groups of control firms that did not change their level of codetermination. In line with our hypotheses, the results suggest that a change to parity codetermination is related to lower working capital and higher operating cash flows compared to our control firms. We conclude that firms begin to engage in more efficient working capital management due to the change to parity codetermination on supervisory boards. We also conclude that the positive short-term effects on the firms’ operating performance imply that labor representatives do not bear just the interests of employees in mind, but also those of other stakeholders.     

THE TRADE DISCOUNT DECISION: A MARKOV CHAIN APPROACH*

Economic theory indicates that higher returns are required from investments that have higher risk. Two major reasons for offering trade discounts are to stimulate sales and to speed up cash receipts. Both sales increases and the earlier receipt of cash impact the risk/return characteristics of a firm. This study uses a Markov chain model to demonstrate how alternative trade credit policies impact the risk and required returns of a firm. The amount of risk and return per credit sale is calculated, and the coefficient of variation is used as a risk/return measure per credit sale. The study concludes that trade discounts can have a favorable impact on the risk/return characteristics of a firm, even in the absence of increased sales volume. Other discount decision factors which are either directly or indirectly determined in this paper include: (1) the average number of periods for which an account is outstanding, (2) the probability of collection and bad-debt losses over the average account period, (3) the average speed of payment, and (4) the average amount of cash tied up in accounts receivable.     

Cash‐Flow Based Dynamic Inventory Management

Small‐to‐medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs), including many startup firms, need to manage interrelated flows of cash and inventories of goods. In this study, we model a firm that can finance its inventory (ordered or manufactured) with loans in order to meet random demand which in general may not be time stationary. The firm earns interest on its cash on hand and pays interest on its debt. The objective is to maximize the expected value of the firm's capital at the end of a finite planning horizon. The firm's state at the beginning of each period is characterized by the inventory level and the capital level measured in units of the product, whose sum represents the “net worth” of the firm. Our study shows that the optimal ordering policy is characterized by a pair of threshold parameters as follows. (i) If the net worth is less than the lower threshold, then the firm employs a base stock order up to the lower threshold. (ii) If the net worth is between the two thresholds, then the firm orders exactly as many units as it can afford, without borrowing. (iii) If the net worth is above the upper threshold, then the firm employs a base stock order up to the upper threshold. Further, upper and lower bounds for the threshold values are developed using two simple‐to‐compute myopic ordering policies which yield lower bounds for the value function. We also derive an upper bound for the value function by considering a sell‐back policy. Subsequently, it is shown that policies of similar structure are optimal when the loan and deposit interest rates are piecewise linear functions, when there is a maximal loan limit and when unsatisfied demand is backordered. Finally, further managerial insights are provided with extensive numerical studies.     

网络购物平台最优价格促销策略：价格折扣还是现金券？

平台价格促销已成为平台营销中的重要问题，不同于传统模式下商家决定商品的价格促销，平台价格促销是以平台作为价格促销的决策者。本文建立了平台价格折扣和现金券两种由平台作为决策者的价格促销模型，探讨平台的最优价格促销策略，并在原有模型的基础上考虑商家广告投资决策并构建了扩展模型。研究结果表明，(1)只有当商品的基本需求、消费者价格敏感度和商品价格满足一定条件时，平台价格促销才能提升平台利润。(2)在两种价格促销都能提升平台利润情况下，平台的交易费率较高且商品价格较低则平台实施现金券策略的利润高于价格折扣策略；其他情况下平台实施价格折扣策略的利润高于现金券策略。(3)在平台交易费率较低的情况下，价格折扣策略下消费者能得到更多优惠；否则现金券策略下消费者得到更多优惠。(4)增加商家广告投资能够提高平台促销活动的利润，但是平台的价格优惠降低，且平台实施价格促销活动的条件区间减小。     

Cash Flow Modelling and Forecasting in Capital Budgeting Under Uncertainty*

The subject of this paper is modelling and forecasting of cash flows generated by a capital investment. The paper proposes the application of autoregressive, moving average, and mixed autoregressive moving-average processes to capital budgeting. In addition, models for deterministic, stochastic and seasonal trends are considered. For each class of cash flows, analytical expressions are developed for the mean and variance of a project's net present value (NPV). Also considered are several equilibrium pricing models. For two of them, the forecasting methodology developed here is integrated into the pricing equation. Although the overall emphasis of the paper is on modelling and forecasting of cash flows, the implications for NPV pricing and risk analysis are also investigated. Several examples are used to illustrate the impact of particular cash flow models on the price and risk of a project.     

Correction Constants for Present Values of Seasonal Cash Flows

In a recent Decision Sciences article, McMath (1990) developed the correction constants approach for eliminating the end-of-year bias in the present value of streams with subannual cash flows. A limitation of this approach is that it assumes subannual cash flows are level. In many types of businesses, subannual cash flows follow a predictable seasonal pattern and, consequently, a present value estimate based upon a level correction constant is biased. This article derives a general formula for determining correction constants for seasonal cash flow patterns, examines the direction and magnitude of the seasonal bias, and applies seasonal correction constants to a capital budgeting problem.     

Shareholders' Wealth‐Maximizing Operating Decisions and Risk Management Practices in a Mixed Contracts Economy

This paper establishes a critically important positive role for operations management practices and financial hedging. We show that operations management decisions and financial hedging are intertwined, and we advance a framework that can identify their combined effects on investors' wealth. We show that: (a) firms (publicly traded corporations) will optimally hold adequate riskless working capital (e.g., cash) to minimize the cost of obtaining non‐financial inputs, and the magnitude of this cash holding depends on operating details, and (b) operations management and financial hedging can lower firms' cash requirements, and boost productivity, defined as the wealth created in the firm per dollar of invested capital. Productivity‐enhancing practices—by “freeing up” some of the firm's cash—can maximize the investors' wealth. We show that these results obtain because firms' contracts with many of the providers of non‐financial inputs are not traded, and because investors can invest not just in public corporations but also in businesses “outside the markets” (e.g., proprietorships, partnerships, and private equity).     

CEO Duality,Agency Costs,and Internal Capital Allocation Efficiency

This study examines the impact of CEO duality on firms’ internal capital allocation efficiency. We observe that when the CEO is also chair of the board, diversified firms make inefficient investments, as they allocate more capital to business segments with relatively low growth opportunities over segments with high growth opportunities. The adverse impact of CEO duality on investment efficiency prevails only among firms that face high agency problems, as captured by high free cash flows, staggered board structure and low board independence. Depending on the severity of the agency problem, CEO duality is associated with a decrease in industry‐adjusted investment in high‐growth segments of 1% to 2.1% over the following year, relative to that in low‐growth segments. However, CEOs’ equity‐based compensation curbs the negative effect of CEO duality on internal capital allocation efficiency. Overall, the findings of this study offer strong support for the agency theory and postulate the internal capital allocation policy as an important channel through which CEO duality lowers firm value in diversified firms.