Journal Articles

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/7915

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    Cost stickiness and firm value
    (Springer-Verlag GmbH, 2023-08-14) Costa MD; Habib A; Verbeeten F
    In this paper we explore the association between cost stickiness and firm value. Using a large sample of U.S. data, we find a robust negative relationship between cost stickiness and firm value. We then explore whether the resource adjustment, managerial expectations, and agency theories of cost stickiness affect the negative relation and find support for the managerial expectation and agency theories. Furthermore, we find evidence that the detrimental impact of cost stickiness on firm value is mediated partially through the cost of equity and cash flow channels. Further investigation suggests that the adverse effects of cost stickiness on firm value is stronger in the presence of high information asymmetry. We enrich the cost management literature by integrating cost stickiness with corporate finance.
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    Financial constraints and asymmetric cost behavior
    (Springer-Verlag GmbH, 2021-03-01) Costa MD; Habib A; Bhuiyan MBU
    This study investigates the association between financial constraints and cost asymmetry. Using a large U.S. sample of firms from 1976 to 2016, we find that financially constrained firms exhibit less cost asymmetry. However, such low cost asymmetry is more pronounced for SG&A cost category compared to operating cost category. Our results remain generally consistent across various specifications of financial constraints measures and various asymmetric cost behavior measures. We explore three contextual settings that might affect the association differentially, namely, the future value-creating potential of SG&A expense setting, the investment opportunities setting, and the earnings management setting. In addition, we find evidence that financial constraint leads to lower cost asymmetry, even when managers have received optimistic signals about future sales. As resources drive the costs of a business, and financial constraints affect resource availability, studying the cost behavior of constrained firms makes a valuable contribution to the existing cost asymmetry literature.