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Making, buying and concurrent sourcing: implications for operating leverage and stock beta


Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Lambrecht, BMAC 
Pawlina, G 
Teixeira, JCA 

Abstract

We present a real options model of a firm’s make-or-buy decision under demand uncertainty. “Making” is subject to decreasing returns to scale, fixed costs, and capital investment. “Buying” happens at a fixed price and requires no investment. Three distinct procurement regimes endogenously arise: buying, making, or concurrent sourcing for, respectively, low, intermediate, and high demand. Capital constraints encourage buying or concurrent sourcing. Operating leverage peaks when the firm switches between buying and making, and it is lowest (and negative) at the switch between making and concurrent sourcing. This non-monotonic pattern mirrors and drives the behavior of the firm’s beta.

Description

Keywords

sourcing, operating flexibility, operating leverage, stock beta

Journal Title

Review of Finance

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1875-824X
1573-692X

Volume Title

20

Publisher

Oxford University Press (OUP)
Sponsorship
Lambrecht and Pawlina thank the ESRC (grant RES-062-23-0078) and Teixeira thanks Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (BD/12193/2003) for financial support.