While several studies examine the managerial structure of privately owned agribusinesses, few studies take a comprehensive look at publically traded agribusiness firms. Our study examines the historical position of agribusiness compared to the market, and then studies the impact of the global economic and financial crisis. The objective of this study is to pinpoint effects of corporate financial management strategies, commonly researched in financial literature on agribusiness firms’ performance. Through utilizing a quantile regression we find that agribusiness position in times of financial crisis is directly related to firm performance. As we examine internal factors, several interesting impacts of managerial factors emerge. These results are useful for agribusiness firms seeking to improve their performance, as we show which management strategies related to capital structure, and firm size are associated with an increase in profitability based on the performance record of the agribusiness. Additionally, we examine how these factors impact internal financial distress of the agribusiness firms. Our conclusions clarify the impact of traditional financial management techniques on agribusiness firms and lead to questions for further research. Ultimately, the presented research provides a foundational knowledge of corporate agribusinesses financial performance.

Information technology (IT) investments have increased over the last half-century without clear justification in academic or practice-based literatures. One area that has not been adequately addressed in the past literature is the role of IT investments in mitigating firm financial vulnerability. This dissertation specifically attempts to understand the marginal effects of IT investments on financial vulnerability as defined by firm risk and R&D depreciation. Two research questions are pursued to help explain the role IT investments play in firm financial vulnerability: 1) What is the relationship between IT investments and R&D depreciation? and 2) What is the relationship between IT investments and firm risk? For this, I draw testable from the Real Options Theory. In addition, I develop measures of firm risk and the Depreciation of Business R&D capital. I source the data from three archival sources: Compustat, The Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP), and the Ci Technology Database (CiTDB). This dissertation uses panel regression models using fixed effects to control the unobservable time invariant firm heterogeneity. To alleviate potential endogeneity and sampling biases, I use generalized method of moments models. The results suggest the relationships between IT investments and both firm risk and depreciation, namely that IT investments increase firm risk and decrease R&D depreciation.