Opciones reales y diversificación corporativaevidencia para el caso español

Abstract

During the last thirty years, the explanation of the diversification strategy has been motivating one of the most exciting debates. This paper aims to join in the debate by offering a new perspective, such as that one which is derived from the real option approach. According to the real option perspective a firm's corporate diversification reflects the effective holding and relevance of its real options, and by so doing, the market value of its real option portfolio. In order to test this hypothesis, we estimate the real option market values of a panel of 101 companies listed on the Spanish stock exchange during the period 1991-1997. Then, we apply panel data to test the relationship between the aforementioned estimations and the companies' diversification strategies. We find evidence that corporate diversification is positive related to real option value. This finding confirms corporate diversification as a platform of growth options and flexibility. Our results are robust even after controlling for industry, and alternative measures of corporate diversification