{"id":{"repo_id":"mit","oai_identifier":"oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/145178"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/mit/oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/145178","repository":{"repo_id":"mit","name":"MIT","base_url":"https://dspace.mit.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Big Data and Firm Risk","abstract":"This paper investigates the impact of firm data collection and analysis of collected data on the riskiness of firm cash flows. I use a scraped data set of the third party resources loaded on firms’ websites as a measure of firm data collection and analysis practices. I find that firm use of less effective web analytics is associated with an increase in the variance of sales, inventory, and both fixed and variable costs. This effect is despite a lack of change in the level of these variables. Looking at the effect of treatment on the treated, there is higher profit and sales variance during times of higher uncertainty. I use differences in web analytics technology and a change in their relative effectiveness as my identification strategy. As a case study of a large negative demand shock, I look at differences in firm reactions to COVID-19 based on their web analytics usage.","abstract_html":"This paper investigates the impact of firm data collection and analysis of collected data on the riskiness of firm cash flows. I use a scraped data set of the third party resources loaded on firms’ websites as a measure of firm data collection and analysis practices. I find that firm use of less effective web analytics is associated with an increase in the variance of sales, inventory, and both fixed and variable costs. This effect is despite a lack of change in the level of these variables. Looking at the effect of treatment on the treated, there is higher profit and sales variance during times of higher uncertainty. I use differences in web analytics technology and a change in their relative effectiveness as my identification strategy. As a case study of a large negative demand shock, I look at differences in firm reactions to COVID-19 based on their web analytics usage.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Paine, Fiona"],"institution":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology","degree_name":"Master","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":"Sloan School of Management","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Palmer, Christopher"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2022,"date_issued":"2022-05","date_published":"2022-05","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:21:46Z","subjects":[],"languages":[],"rights":["In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted","Copyright MIT"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/145178","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Palmer, Christopher"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Sloan School of Management"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Paine, Fiona"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2022-08-29T16:38:24Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2022-08-29T16:38:24Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2022-05"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master","Master of Science in Management Research"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted","Copyright MIT"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/145178"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This paper investigates the impact of firm data collection and analysis of collected data on the riskiness of firm cash flows. I use a scraped data set of the third party resources loaded on firms’ websites as a measure of firm data collection and analysis practices. I find that firm use of less effective web analytics is associated with an increase in the variance of sales, inventory, and both fixed and variable costs. This effect is despite a lack of change in the level of these variables. Looking at the effect of treatment on the treated, there is higher profit and sales variance during times of higher uncertainty. I use differences in web analytics technology and a change in their relative effectiveness as my identification strategy. As a case study of a large negative demand shock, I look at differences in firm reactions to COVID-19 based on their web analytics usage."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["S.M."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Big Data and Firm Risk"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Palmer, Christopher"],"dc:contributor.department":["Sloan School of Management"],"dc:creator":["Paine, Fiona"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2022-08-29T16:38:24Z"],"dc:date.available":["2022-08-29T16:38:24Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2022-05"],"dc:description.abstract":["This paper investigates the impact of firm data collection and analysis of collected data on the riskiness of firm cash flows. I use a scraped data set of the third party resources loaded on firms’ websites as a measure of firm data collection and analysis practices. I find that firm use of less effective web analytics is associated with an increase in the variance of sales, inventory, and both fixed and variable costs. This effect is despite a lack of change in the level of these variables. Looking at the effect of treatment on the treated, there is higher profit and sales variance during times of higher uncertainty. I use differences in web analytics technology and a change in their relative effectiveness as my identification strategy. As a case study of a large negative demand shock, I look at differences in firm reactions to COVID-19 based on their web analytics usage."],"dc:description.degree":["S.M."],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/145178"],"dc:publisher":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology"],"dc:rights":["In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted","Copyright MIT"],"dc:rights.uri":["http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/"],"dc:title":["Big Data and Firm Risk"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master","Master of Science in Management Research"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:21:46Z"}