Artificiell intelligens och företags kapitalkostnader : En jämförande studie mellan USA och Tyskland

Sammanfattning

Artificial intelligence has become increasingly included in companies that are progressively shifting their operations toward the technological direction. This study aims to create an understanding of how companies that use artificial intelligence differ in terms of capital costs. This is done through comparisons between international companies in American and German industries. To investigate this, the Weighted Average Cost of Capital is calculated, which means the weighted average cost of capital within companies. This measure is calculated using key figures and analyzed in a correlation with the Beta value to measure the relationship to the risk level. The theories Pecking-Order theory, Trade-Off theory and Signal theory are used to support the investigation of the cost of capital. This is done with the aim of investigating how companies are affected by the use of AI and how the cost of capital is affected and differs between american and german companies. It was clear from the results of the study that an affected cost of capital is noticeable but that this differs between the different industries and countries. Growth opportunities, risk, uncertainty and information asymmetry are contributing factors to these differences. The study demonstrates a connection between the use of artificial intelligence and companies capital costs, where differences can be identified both between companies and industries and between the US and Germany.