Advancing Corporate Valuation: Integrating Risk and Uncertainty

A special issue of Journal of Risk and Financial Management (ISSN 1911-8074). This special issue belongs to the section "Business and Entrepreneurship".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026 | Viewed by 1972

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
1. Faculty of Business and Economics, TUD Dresden University of Technology, 01062 Dresden, Germany
2. FutureValue Group AG, Obere Gärten 18, 70771 Leinfelden-Echterdingen, Germany
Interests: economy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Risk management promotes corporate success when risks are adequately considered while making business decisions. The decision-oriented focus of risk management is also emphasized by the COSO Enterprise Risk Management Framework. There is still a need for improvement in companies regarding the necessary adaptation of processes and the methods that make it possible to weigh up return and risk when making decisions. Simulation-based valuation methods that combine corporate planning and risk analysis using a Monte Carlo simulation are particularly relevant here. Research has not yet dealt with many possible queries.

This Special Issue aims to explore the intersection of corporate valuation, risk management, and managerial decision-making by addressing key theoretical and empirical questions, including but not limited to the following:

  • How can the method of simulation-based assessment be used to combine risk analysis, planning and decision preparation (conceptually, case studies)?
  • What clarifications and additions to COSO ERM would be desirable in order to provide companies with clearer guidelines for the decision-orientation of risk management?
  • What quantitative methods can companies use to weigh up the effects of decisions in terms of profit and risk? Which decision criteria are theoretically sound and can be used in practice? What significance do simulation-based evaluation methods have in this context?
  • Which empirical study results prove the advantages of the decision-orientation of risk management (e.g., with regard to financial performance or company value)?
  • How should risk management be integrated into the process of preparing management decisions and what are the obstacles to such integration in practice?

This Special Issue welcomes theoretical and empirical contributions that provide new insights into the role of risk management in corporate decision-making and valuation.

Introductory Literature:

  • Blatter, A. B., Ernst, D. and Lang, S. M. 2024. Diversification in Business Valuation https://doi.org/10.1515/jbvela-2024-0024 Received July 15, 2024; accepted October 15, 2024; published online December 9, 2024
  • Ernst, D. 2022. Simulation-Based BusinessValuation: Methodical Implementation in the Valuation Practice. Journal of Risk and Financial Management 15: 200. https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm15050200
  • Gleißner, W. 2019. Cost of capital and probability of default in value-based risk management, in: Management Research Review, Vol. 42, No. 11, pp. 1243–1258
  • Gleißner, W. and Berger, Th. 2024. Enterprise Risk Management, in: Risks 12(12), 196, https://doi.org/10.3390/risks12120196, Download: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9091/12/12/196/pdf
  • Hunziker, S. 2021. Enterprise Risk Management, Modern Approaches to Balancing Risk and Reward, Edition Number 2, Publisher: Springer Gabler Wiesbaden
  • Nocco, B. W. and Stulz, R. M. 2022. Enterprise Risk Management: Theory and Practice: Journal of Applied Corporate Finance: Vol. 34, No. 1, pp 81–95

Prof. Dr. Werner Gleißner
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • enterprise risk management (ERM)
  • corporate valuation
  • risk and uncertainty
  • simulation-based valuation
  • decision-oriented risk management
  • financial performance
  • risk aggregation
  • strategy valuation

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 2155 KB  
Article
Weighted Average Cost of Capital in Declining Interest Rate Environments (Part II): Qualitative Expert Research
by Simon Frey and Harro Heilmann
J. Risk Financial Manag. 2026, 19(5), 326; https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm19050326 - 2 May 2026
Viewed by 175
Abstract
This study constitutes the second part of a comprehensive investigation of the persistence of weighted average cost of capital (WACC) rates despite declining risk-free interest rates. While theory suggests that WACC should reflect lower risk-free interest rates and decline with falling government bond [...] Read more.
This study constitutes the second part of a comprehensive investigation of the persistence of weighted average cost of capital (WACC) rates despite declining risk-free interest rates. While theory suggests that WACC should reflect lower risk-free interest rates and decline with falling government bond yields, empirical evidence reveals minimal adjustment in the reported WACC figures. Disclosed WACC of DAX40 companies remain between 7% and 8% as the yield of a ten-year German government bond fell from 4.1% to −0.2%. After the quantitative risk analysis (part I) systematically lacks market-based and fundamental explanations—demonstrating that neither systematic risk, overall market risk, earnings risk nor leverage increased sufficiently to justify this stability—this article addresses the resulting explanatory gap through qualitative inquiry. Employing a grounded theory methodology, we investigate the causes and consequences of persistent WACC through systematic analysis of 18 problem-centered semi-structured expert interviews (22 respondents comprising corporate finance executives, investment bankers, strategy consultants, auditors). The investigation reveals that behavioral economics (risk aversion, opportunism, subjectivity), organizational constraints (strategic path dependency, implementation complexity, financial criterion rigidity), and model-theoretic discretion (parameter averaging, analyst influence, supplementary risk adjustments) substantially shape practical WACC determination—factors that quantitative risk analysis cannot capture. Practitioners employ disclosed WACC strategically to reconcile investor return requirements with long-term operational stability, avoid audit friction, and hedge geopolitical–monetary risks—consequences that generate capital opportunity costs offsetting traditional value-maximization objectives. Combined quantitative and qualitative evidence yields actionable insights for value-based capital cost methodologies that are aligned with organizational and market realities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancing Corporate Valuation: Integrating Risk and Uncertainty)
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27 pages, 3845 KB  
Article
Weighted Average Cost of Capital in Declining Interest Rate Environments (Part I): A Quantitative Risk Analysis
by Simon Frey and Harro Heilmann
J. Risk Financial Manag. 2026, 19(4), 241; https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm19040241 - 25 Mar 2026
Viewed by 1241
Abstract
The article examines the persistent stability of the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) disclosed by German DAX40 companies despite substantial declines in risk-free interest rates between 2004 and 2021. While theory suggests that WACC should reflect lower risk-free interest rates and decline [...] Read more.
The article examines the persistent stability of the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) disclosed by German DAX40 companies despite substantial declines in risk-free interest rates between 2004 and 2021. While theory suggests that WACC should reflect lower risk-free interest rates and decline as well with falling government bond yields, empirical evidence reveals minimal adjustment in reported WACC figures. Disclosed WACC of DAX40 companies remains between 7% and 8% as the yield of the ten-year German government bond fell from 4.1% to −0.2%. This study employs quantitative analyses to investigate whether systematic increases in risk exposure can explain this phenomenon. Using capital market data spanning from 2000 to 2023, we analyze five risk dimensions: systematic risk (beta factors), overall market volatility, risk aversion (lambda factors), earnings risk, and financial structure risk. Bootstrap analyses reveal a 41.5% reduction in beta factor variance, while volatility analyses demonstrate declining market risk exposure. The market price of risk analysis does not reveal definite findings. Earnings risk measures indicate improved financial stability, and debt ratios show modest declines. These findings suggest that observable risk parameters cannot explain persistent WACC levels, indicating a disconnect between theoretical WACC calculations and practitioner applications in investment project decision-making following value-based management principles. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancing Corporate Valuation: Integrating Risk and Uncertainty)
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