Oil exposure, hedging and firm value : A quantitative study on the U.S. airline industry

Abstract: This thesis examines the impact of oil price fluctuations and jet fuel hedging on firm value before, during and after the subprime crisis. Four regressions are estimated with two different variables representing firm value; market return and market valuation. The result of this study shows that the airlines’ oil price exposure has substantially decreased over time and that jet fuel hedging does not add value for investors.