Corporate Financial Architecture and Strategic Financial Decisions in Knowledge Intensive Companies

The goal of the project in 2019:

The project is aimed at identifying differences in motivations of strategic financial decisions and corporate financial architecture at knowledge intensive firms (KIFs) and the effects of these factors on value of such firms, using an interdisciplinary approach to analysis of business-models, capital structure and performance of KIFs, combining techniques applicable for research in the fields of corporate finance, strategic management and intellectual capital disclosure.

The objectives of the project:

The objectives of the project are specified within following subprojects:

The subproject 1 “Financing policy” is focused on empirical analysis of:

• motivation for application of certain types of financing policy and cash holding decisions at KIFs;
• specifics of corporate financial distress for KIFs resulting from long-term financing policy features;
• bankruptcies of small and medium KIFs;
• models of identification of corporate financial frauds using non-financial data.
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The subproject 2 “M&A deals’ efficiency” is focused on empirical analysis of:

• specifics of M&A deals for KIFs in developed and emerging markets, including cross-border deals;
• factors determining an efficiency of M&A deals for KIFs in case of acquisition of high-tech target companies in developed and emerging markets.
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The subproject 3 “Corporate financial architecture” is focused on empirical analysis of:

• specifics of KIFs’ ownership structure, characteristics, the role and activism of different types of institutional investors;
• specifics of corporate governance mechanisms and Board of directors (BoD) activity for different patterns of KIFs’ financial architecture, including specifics of investing in innovative activity by family firms;
• the impact of business digitalization in the form of smart-contracts’ introduction on corporate governance mechanisms, the role and functions of BoD;
• specific effects of institutional investors on decision making and risk level at KIFs.

The subproject also contributes to development of methodology based on cluster analysis for complex investigation of KIFs’ corporate financial architecture.