The identification of variables associated with companies' value and cost of capital is an old and still unclear issue in management. This article studies the relation between countries' environments and their companies' value and cost of capital. The research was carried out using annual data on the competitiveness of nations produced by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), as well as company value data by Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI). The results show the importance of the nation's environment in explaining country differences in companies' value and cost of capital. The relative importance of different factors of competitiveness, according to the countries' stage of development is also shown.
Value of companies; Cost of Capital; Competitiveness of Nations
