1;Geleitwort;6 2;Vorwort;8 3;Table of Contents;10 4;List of Abbreviations;13 5;List of Symbols;15 6;List of Figures;20 7;List of Tables;21 8;1 Introduction;23 8.1;1.1 Motivation and Research Questions;23 8.2;1.2 Structure of the Thesis;26 9;2 The Firm Characteristic of Corporate Diversification;27 9.1;2.1 Basics about Corporate Diversification;27 9.1.1;2.1.1 Diversification Strategy;27 9.1.2;2.1.2 Measurement;31 9.2;2.2 Effects of Corporate Diversification;32 9.2.1;2.2.1 Benefits of Corporate Diversification;33 9.2.2;2.2.2 Costs of Corporate Diversification;33 9.3;2.3 Relevance of Corporate Diversification for Financial Economics Research;34 9.4;2.4 Application of Corporate Diversification to Related Accounting Research;37 10;3 Corporate Diversification and Earnings Quality;38 10.1;3.1 Introduction;38 10.2;3.2 Earnings Quality;43 10.2.1;3.2.1 Principles and Definition;43 10.2.2;3.2.2 Measurement;45 10.2.3;3.2.3 Determinants;48 10.2.4;3.2.4 Consequences;49 10.3;3.3 Prior Literature and Hypotheses Development;50 10.3.1;3.3.1 Literature on Corporate Diversification and Earnings Quality;50 10.3.2;3.3.2 Development of Testable Hypotheses;53 10.4;3.4 Research Design and Data;59 10.4.1;3.4.1 Variable Definition and Methodology;59 10.4.2;3.4.2 Data and Sample Selection;66 10.5;3.5 Empirical Results;68 10.5.1;3.5.1 Summary Statistics;68 10.5.2;3.5.2 Results of Diversification on Earnings Quality;73 10.5.3;3.5.3 Results of Coinsurance on Earnings Quality;75 10.5.4;3.5.4 Results of Coinsurance and Operating Volatility on Earnings Quality;78 10.6;3.6 Robustness Checks and Additional Results;82 10.6.1;3.6.1 Subsample of Diversified Firms;82 10.6.2;3.6.2 Endogeneity of Diversification Decision;85 10.6.3;3.6.3 Innate and Discretionary Components of Accruals Quality;90 10.6.4;3.6.4 Naive Comparison between Diversified and Focused Firms;96 10.7;3.7 Conclusion;101 11;4 Implication for the Excess Value of Corporate Diversification;103 11.1;4.1 Introduction;103 11.2;4.2 Preliminary Analysis: Operating Volatility of Diversified Firms;104 11.2.1;4.2.1 Theory and Hypothesis;105 11.2.2;4.2.2 Methodology and Sample;106 11.2.3;4.2.3 Results and Discussion;109 11.3;4.3 Literature Review and Hypotheses Development;114 11.3.1;4.3.1 Literature Review;114 11.3.2;4.3.2 Hypotheses Development;116 11.4;4.4 Research Design and Data;118 11.4.1;4.4.1 Methodology;118 11.4.2;4.4.2 Data Sample;121 11.5;4.5 Empirical Results;122 11.5.1;4.5.1 Descriptive Statistics;122 11.5.2;4.5.2 Results of Diversification on the Excess Value;124 11.5.3;4.5.3 Results of Diversification and Earnings Volatility on the Excess Value;126 11.5.4;4.5.4 Results of Diversification and Earnings Quality on the Excess Value;130 11.6;4.6 Sensitivity Analyses;136 11.6.1;4.6.1 Endogeneity Concerns;136 11.6.2;4.6.2 Alternative Specifications;142 11.6.3;4.6.3 Alternative Estimation Techniques;145 11.7;4.7 Conclusion;148 12;5 Concluding Remarks;150 12.1;5.1 Summary and Implications of Main Findings;150 12.2;5.2 Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research;152 13;Appendix;154 13.1;Appendix A: Relevance of Corporate Diversification;154 14;References;155