The informational role of macroeconomic exposure in corporate investment efficiency

Abstract

PurposeThis study explores whether exposure to macroeconomic information provides bellwether firms with information advantages at the macroeconomic level and facilitates managers to utilize such informational advantage for investment decision-making. The author tests whether firms' macroeconomic exposure is associated with sensitivity of their segment-level investments to growth opportunities and how internal and external frictions affect this association cross-sectionally.Design/methodology/approachThis study follows prior research to identify high-macroinformation firms and measures the level of macroexposure based on how closely the firms' underlying business varies with macroeconomic conditions. The main specification is a segment-level regression of investment on growth opportunities and an interaction between growth opportunities and the level of macroeconomic exposure.FindingsThe results indicate a significantly positive association between firms' macroeconomic exposure and sensitivity of segment-level investments to growth opportunities, suggesting that bellwether firms can leverage their greater exposure to macroeconomic and external information to improve the quality of their investment decisions. Further evidence shows that this positive association is decreasing in firms' corporate diversification level and is also decreasing in their foreign operation level, implying that internal and external frictions could limit the information benefits ultimately gained by firms from their macroeconomic exposure.Originality/valueAccounting researchers have recently documented evidence that bellwether firms' management earnings forecasts convey timely information about macroeconomic states, suggesting that managers of certain types of firms are likely to have private macroeconomic information. The main research question in this paper is motivated by incorporating insights derived from recent accounting research findings to shed further light on the impact of firms' macroexposure on their investment decision process.