3.4. Robustness
We perform a battery of robustness checks on asset growth effect. For brevity, the results are discussed
below but are not tabulated in the paper.
3.4.1. High-growth vs. low-growth industries
It is likely that some firms in high growth industries do not expand rapidly relative to their high growth
industry peers if competitive pressures for these firms dictate expensive expansions to survive. Likewise, some
firms in low growth industries may take an aggressive expansion strategy to grow their assets. Such firms
provide a counter-factual sample to contrast with other low (high) growth firms as their returns may be
different from other firms. Empirical evidence on the industry effect on the cross-sectional stock returns have
been documented in the previous studies (e.g., Grinold et al., 1989; Roll, 1992).