Corporate diversification, board diversity and stock-price crash risk: Evidence from publicly listed firms in Malaysia

This study investigates whether corporate diversification can be a predictability variable contender for future stock-price crash risk. Using a sample of Malaysian firms based on 2010-2015 data, our study shows evidence of the mitigating effect of diversification on crash risk, consistent with the t...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Lee, Kian Tek *, Hooy, Chee Wooi, Ooi, Chai Aun
Format: Article
Published: Universiti Putra Malaysia 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:http://eprints.sunway.edu.my/1407/
_version_ 1848802051177316352
author Lee, Kian Tek *
Hooy, Chee Wooi
Ooi, Chai Aun
author_facet Lee, Kian Tek *
Hooy, Chee Wooi
Ooi, Chai Aun
author_sort Lee, Kian Tek *
building SU Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description This study investigates whether corporate diversification can be a predictability variable contender for future stock-price crash risk. Using a sample of Malaysian firms based on 2010-2015 data, our study shows evidence of the mitigating effect of diversification on crash risk, consistent with the theory of coinsurance effect. However, our further analysis shows that the mitigating effect of diversification on crash risk is only evident on highly diversified firms but not on firms of low to moderate degree of diversification. This finding is aligned with the dominant view of the existence of crash risk following the managerial bad-news hoarding model. Furthermore, our study finds that the mitigating effect of diversification is more pronounced for firms with board diversity in gender which is in support of the notion of board diversity in promoting corporate governance. Our findings are useful to firms (and shareholders) who want to manage “tail risk” in stock prices and to investors who want to incorporate crash risk as parts of their portfolio and risk management decisions.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T21:17:12Z
format Article
id sunway-1407
institution Sunway University
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T21:17:12Z
publishDate 2019
publisher Universiti Putra Malaysia
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling sunway-14072020-10-01T07:11:32Z http://eprints.sunway.edu.my/1407/ Corporate diversification, board diversity and stock-price crash risk: Evidence from publicly listed firms in Malaysia Lee, Kian Tek * Hooy, Chee Wooi Ooi, Chai Aun HF Commerce This study investigates whether corporate diversification can be a predictability variable contender for future stock-price crash risk. Using a sample of Malaysian firms based on 2010-2015 data, our study shows evidence of the mitigating effect of diversification on crash risk, consistent with the theory of coinsurance effect. However, our further analysis shows that the mitigating effect of diversification on crash risk is only evident on highly diversified firms but not on firms of low to moderate degree of diversification. This finding is aligned with the dominant view of the existence of crash risk following the managerial bad-news hoarding model. Furthermore, our study finds that the mitigating effect of diversification is more pronounced for firms with board diversity in gender which is in support of the notion of board diversity in promoting corporate governance. Our findings are useful to firms (and shareholders) who want to manage “tail risk” in stock prices and to investors who want to incorporate crash risk as parts of their portfolio and risk management decisions. Universiti Putra Malaysia 2019 Article PeerReviewed Lee, Kian Tek * and Hooy, Chee Wooi and Ooi, Chai Aun (2019) Corporate diversification, board diversity and stock-price crash risk: Evidence from publicly listed firms in Malaysia. International Journal of Economics and Management (IJEM), 13 (2). pp. 273-289. ISSN 2600-9390 http://www.ijem.upm.edu.my/vol13no2.htm
spellingShingle HF Commerce
Lee, Kian Tek *
Hooy, Chee Wooi
Ooi, Chai Aun
Corporate diversification, board diversity and stock-price crash risk: Evidence from publicly listed firms in Malaysia
title Corporate diversification, board diversity and stock-price crash risk: Evidence from publicly listed firms in Malaysia
title_full Corporate diversification, board diversity and stock-price crash risk: Evidence from publicly listed firms in Malaysia
title_fullStr Corporate diversification, board diversity and stock-price crash risk: Evidence from publicly listed firms in Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed Corporate diversification, board diversity and stock-price crash risk: Evidence from publicly listed firms in Malaysia
title_short Corporate diversification, board diversity and stock-price crash risk: Evidence from publicly listed firms in Malaysia
title_sort corporate diversification, board diversity and stock-price crash risk: evidence from publicly listed firms in malaysia
topic HF Commerce
url http://eprints.sunway.edu.my/1407/
http://eprints.sunway.edu.my/1407/