2. Divisional cost of capital Divisional cost of capital refers to the problem of estimating the required return for a project, for example, a division of a firm, when no data regarding the market price of risk for the division are available. Divisional cost of capital is the hurdle rate that, when used as the minimum required rate of return in evaluating projects, will ensure that shareholder wealth is increased by investing in positive net present value projects. Block (2003) notes that, ‘‘to the extent that divisions in a corporation have degrees of risk and financial characteristics that are different from the parent corporation, using the overall corporate hurdle rate is certain to lead to incorrect decisions and failure to maximize stockholder wealth’’ (p. 345). Bower and Jenks (1975) have demonstrated the potentially serious adverse effects of ignoring the differential risks of divisions when utilizing hurdle rates. The importance of estimating divisional cost of capital was made clear in a Financial Management (see Ang, 1989) panel session featuring financial executives from several large firms. According to Jack A. Gunn, ‘‘We at Southwestern Bell find the idea and the notion of divisional cost of capital very appealing’’ (p. 20). Estimation of divisional cost of capital takes on added importance for firms that are subject to cost of capital regulation. For the purposes of this research, divisional cost of capital is taken to be part of a larger concern: determining the cost of equity capital for any firm or division of a firm without publicly traded equity. For example, estimation of the rate of return for a private firm for the valuation purposes is a related problem of interest. Similarly, a company may wish to price the equity risk of a single profit center, plant, or product using accounting data. Consider the statement of Bruce Dannenburg, then of Digital Equipment Corporation, in the Financial Management panel session cited above: ‘‘You can clearly see that there is a drastic need in the real world for divisional hurdle rates. In fact...there is a need not only for divisional hurdle rates but for project specific hurdle rates as well’’ (p. 23). The techniques examined herein are potentially applicable to all of these situations, although as a practical matter there are often non-systematic factors which must be considered whenvaluing private equity interests. When the market price of equity is observable, several accepted approaches exist to estimate cost of equity capital; however, the CAPM is the most widely used. In the CAPM, firm betas are estimated from market returns, and the expected return for each firm is computed from the firm beta using the security market line. Fama and French (2003) state that the two most widely used practical applications of the CAPM are the
estimation of cost of equity capital and portfolio performance evaluation. Because of its widespread acceptance and ease of implementation, the CAPM is selected as the risk-return benchmark model for these tests. One drawback is that all of our tests become essentially joint tests of the cluster method and the CAPM, and if the method is rejected, we cannot be certain if it is because the cluster methodology is not useful or because the CAPM is not a sufficiently accurate description of the risk-return relationship.
2. Divisional cost of capital Divisional cost of capital refers to the problem of estimating the required return for a project, for example, a division of a firm, when no data regarding the market price of risk for the division are available. Divisional cost of capital is the hurdle rate that, when used as the minimum required rate of return in evaluating projects, will ensure that shareholder wealth is increased by investing in positive net present value projects. Block (2003) notes that, ‘‘to the extent that divisions in a corporation have degrees of risk and financial characteristics that are different from the parent corporation, using the overall corporate hurdle rate is certain to lead to incorrect decisions and failure to maximize stockholder wealth’’ (p. 345). Bower and Jenks (1975) have demonstrated the potentially serious adverse effects of ignoring the differential risks of divisions when utilizing hurdle rates. The importance of estimating divisional cost of capital was made clear in a Financial Management (see Ang, 1989) panel session featuring financial executives from several large firms. According to Jack A. Gunn, ‘‘We at Southwestern Bell find the idea and the notion of divisional cost of capital very appealing’’ (p. 20). Estimation of divisional cost of capital takes on added importance for firms that are subject to cost of capital regulation. For the purposes of this research, divisional cost of capital is taken to be part of a larger concern: determining the cost of equity capital for any firm or division of a firm without publicly traded equity. For example, estimation of the rate of return for a private firm for the valuation purposes is a related problem of interest. Similarly, a company may wish to price the equity risk of a single profit center, plant, or product using accounting data. Consider the statement of Bruce Dannenburg, then of Digital Equipment Corporation, in the Financial Management panel session cited above: ‘‘You can clearly see that there is a drastic need in the real world for divisional hurdle rates. In fact...there is a need not only for divisional hurdle rates but for project specific hurdle rates as well’’ (p. 23). The techniques examined herein are potentially applicable to all of these situations, although as a practical matter there are often non-systematic factors which must be considered whenvaluing private equity interests. When the market price of equity is observable, several accepted approaches exist to estimate cost of equity capital; however, the CAPM is the most widely used. In the CAPM, firm betas are estimated from market returns, and the expected return for each firm is computed from the firm beta using the security market line. Fama and French (2003) state that the two most widely used practical applications of the CAPM are theestimation of cost of equity capital and portfolio performance evaluation. Because of its widespread acceptance and ease of implementation, the CAPM is selected as the risk-return benchmark model for these tests. One drawback is that all of our tests become essentially joint tests of the cluster method and the CAPM, and if the method is rejected, we cannot be certain if it is because the cluster methodology is not useful or because the CAPM is not a sufficiently accurate description of the risk-return relationship.
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