Citation:
Borusyak K, Okubo T. Intra-Firm Linkages in Multi-Segment Firms: Evidence from the Japanese manufacturing sector. RIETI Discussion Paper 16-E-001. 2016.
Abstract:
Are diversified firms mere collections of independent assets, or is there anything that glues together different businesses? We explore this question by looking at segment level growth of multi-segment (i.e., producing in several 6-digit industries at the same time) manufacturing firms in Japan. We find substantial co-movement between such segments and show that it can be driven by plant-wide but not firm-wide shocks. Our findings suggest that inputs that are shared firm-wide, such as brand and organizational routines, are not too important for production.