Intra-Industry Uncertainty and Firm Valuation

Abstract

In this paper, we document evidence that intra-industry uncertainty has a positive relation with firm valuation. Specifically, the reduction of intra-industry uncertainty about firm future profitability leads to a decline of firm ME/BE ratios over time. We find that the positive relation is more prominent for firms in high-tech sectors and those with intensive product market competition. Our results are robust to the control of firm-level uncertainty and alternative measures of intra-industry uncertainty.

TOPICS: Fundamental equity analysis, statistical methods