Plant-Level Productivity and the Market Value of a Firm

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Working Paper Number: CES-01-03

Abstract

Some plants are more productive than others – at least in terms of how productivity is conventionally measured. Do these differences represent an intangible asset? Does the stock market place a higher value on firms with highly productive plants? This paper tests this hypothesis with a new data set. We merge plant-level fundamental variables with firm-level financial variables. We find that firms with highly productive plants have higher market valuations as measured by Tobin's q – productivity does indeed have a price.

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