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Dissertation Information for Brian Silverman

NAME:
- Brian Silverman

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Management

SCHOOL:
- University of California, Berkeley (USA) (1996)

ADVISORS:
- None

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- None

MPACT Status: Incomplete - Inspected

Title: Technical assets and the logic of corporate diversification

Abstract: This dissertation applies and extends the resource-based view of the firm as it pertains to corporate diversification. More specifically, this dissertation endeavors to (1) define and measure technical resources at a more microanalytic level than has been done in prior research, (2) extend and refine the hypotheses concerning diversification derived from the resource-based framework by integrating it with transaction cost economics, and (3) derive and test hypotheses about aspects of diversification other than its direction and the resulting performance--in particular, about the mode by which such diversification occurs.

Previous studies of diversification have used R&D intensity as a proxy for technical resources, and have found that firms with high R&D intensities tend to diversify into industries with high R&D intensities. However, research into firm-specific "technical competence" suggests that a particular technical ability or knowledge is useful in only a narrow range of applications, an effect that is not captured by aggregate R&D statistics. Put another way, the results of prior studies can not tell us whether a pharmaceutical company is more likely to diversify into biotechnology or electronics. Through the development of a new methodology to link patents to industries in which they are likely to be applicable, this dissertation generates a more precise measure of technical resources than has been constructed previously. This measure supports the testing of more finely-grained hypotheses concerning corporate diversification than previous empirical research has enjoyed, and is hypothesized to significantly improve the explanatory power of resource-based models of diversification.

Resource-based theorists have typically implicitly assumed that contracting out excess rent-producing resources is an infeasible alternative to diversification. This dissertation tests the validity of that assumption. Explicit application of transaction cost economics to the resource-based framework suggests that some resources can and will be contracted out. In particular, firms will exploit through contracting those resources that are subject to low degrees of contractual hazards. Diversification--the expansion of a firm's boundaries in order to exploit resources--will be pursued only when contractual hazards are severe.

The role of technical assets and contractual hazards on firms' diversification behavior is the focus of an empirical study. This research draws on several large databases to generate a sample of diversifying entry and (non-entry) by 412 U.S. firms into 429 four-digit SIC businesses between 1981 and 1985. The multinomial logit method is used to test a series of hypotheses. Strong support is found for the explanatory power of the new technical resource measures and for the role of contractual hazards in determining whether firms exploit their technical resources by diversification or by contractual means. Technical resources are also found to influence the mode by which diversification is effected.

MPACT Scores for Brian Silverman

A = 1
C = 0
A+C = 1
T = 1
G = 1
W = 1
TD = 1
TA = 0
calculated 2010-09-28 00:56:17

Advisors and Advisees Graph

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Students under Brian Silverman

ADVISEES:
- Herman Anthony van den Berg - University of Toronto (2008)

COMMITTEESHIPS: