IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/corgov/v16y2008i6p536-549.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Insider Ownership and Capital Constraints: An Empirical Investigation of the Credit Rationing Hypothesis in Estonia

Author

Listed:
  • Bersant Hobdari

Abstract

Manuscript Type: Empirical Research Question/Issue: This study investigates the impact of insider ownership on investment rates using a large and representative sample of Estonian firms. Research Findings/Results: Using a unique and rich panel data for a large and representative sample of firms from Estonia between 1993 and 2002, we find that investment rates of employee‐owned firms are positively related to measures of internal funds and negatively related to measures of external funds, indicating that these firms are financially constrained in carrying out their investment. Further, the probability that these firms operate as financially constrained is high and consistent over time. When manager‐owned firms are considered, they are found to face barriers to access of external financing. Theoretical Implications: Our empirical results suggest that barriers to access to capital are an important determinant of the decline of employee‐owned firms in Estonia. In addition, agency conflicts with potential providers of capital constrain manager‐owned firms access to external funds and their ability to carry out investment projects. Practical Implications: This study offers insights to policy makers interested in designing policies easing firms' access to capital and improving the governance system within which firms operate. In addition, it suggests practical implications to owner managers interested in mitigating agency conflicts and attracting outside investors.

Suggested Citation

  • Bersant Hobdari, 2008. "Insider Ownership and Capital Constraints: An Empirical Investigation of the Credit Rationing Hypothesis in Estonia," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(6), pages 536-549, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:corgov:v:16:y:2008:i:6:p:536-549
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8683.2008.00709.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8683.2008.00709.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1467-8683.2008.00709.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mark Gertler, 1988. "Financial structure and aggregate economic activity: an overview," Proceedings, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, pages 559-596.
    2. Trevor, Igor, Mike Buck Filatotchev Wright, 1998. "Agents, Stakeholders and Corporate Governance in Russian Firms," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(1), pages 81-104, January.
    3. Irena Grosfeld & Iraj Hashi, 2007. "Changes in Ownership Concentration in Mass Privatised Firms: evidence from Poland and the Czech Republic," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(4), pages 520-534, July.
    4. Igor Filatotchev & Irena Grosfeld & Judit Karsai & Mike Wright & Trevor Buck, 1996. "Buy‐outs in Hungary, Poland and Russia: governance and finance issues1," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 4(1), pages 67-88, May.
    5. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W., 1989. "Management entrenchment : The case of manager-specific investments," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 123-139, November.
    6. Derek C. Jones & Niels Mygind, 2002. "Ownership and Productive Efficiency: Evidence from Estonia," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(2), pages 284-301, June.
    7. Filatotchev, Igor & Wright, Mike & Uhlenbruck, Klaus & Tihanyi, Laszlo & Hoskisson, Robert E., 2003. "Governance, organizational capabilities, and restructuring in transition economies," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 331-347, November.
    8. Takeo Hoshi & Anil Kashyap & David Scharfstein, 1991. "Corporate Structure, Liquidity, and Investment: Evidence from Japanese Industrial Groups," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(1), pages 33-60.
    9. Ann E. Harrison & Margaret S. McMillan, 2022. "Does direct foreign investment affect domestic credit constraints?," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Globalization, Firms, and Workers, chapter 7, pages 153-180, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    10. Morck, Randall & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W., 1988. "Management ownership and market valuation," Scholarly Articles 29407535, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    11. Ari Hyytinen & Lotta Väänänen, 2006. "Where Do Financial Constraints Originate from? An Empirical Analysis of Adverse Selection and Moral Hazard in Capital Markets," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 27(4), pages 323-348, December.
    12. Goergen, Marc & Renneboog, Luc, 2001. "Investment policy, internal financing and ownership concentration in the UK," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 257-284, September.
    13. Stephen Bond & Costas Meghir, 1994. "Dynamic Investment Models and the Firm's Financial Policy," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 61(2), pages 197-222.
    14. Steven M. Fazzari & R. Glenn Hubbard & Bruce C. Petersen, 1988. "Financing Constraints and Corporate Investment," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 19(1), pages 141-206.
    15. G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), 2003. "Handbook of the Economics of Finance," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 1, number 1.
    16. Dow,Gregory K., 2003. "Governing the Firm," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521818537.
    17. Abel, Andrew B & Blanchard, Olivier J, 1986. "The Present Value of Profits and Cyclical Movements in Investment," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 54(2), pages 249-273, March.
    18. Erik Berglof & Patrick Bolton, 2002. "The Great Divide and Beyond: Financial Architecture in Transition," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 16(1), pages 77-100, Winter.
    19. Irena Grosfeld & Iraj Hashi, 2007. "Changes in ownership concentration in mass privatizd firms: Evidence from Poland and the Czech Republic," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) halshs-00754216, HAL.
    20. Polona Domadenik & Janez Prašnikar & Jan Svejnar, 2008. "Restructuring of firms in transition: ownership, institutions and openness to trade," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 39(4), pages 725-746, June.
    21. Derek C. Jones & Niels Mygind, 2000. "The effects of privatization on productive efficiency: evidence from the Baltic republics," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 71(3), pages 415-439, September.
    22. Whited, Toni M, 1992. "Debt, Liquidity Constraints, and Corporate Investment: Evidence from Panel Data," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(4), pages 1425-1460, September.
    23. Philippe Aghion & Olivier J. Blanchard, 1998. "On privatization methods in Eastern Europe and their implications1," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 6(1), pages 87-99, May.
    24. Judge, William Q. & Naoumova, Irina & Koutzevol, Nadejda, 2003. "Corporate governance and firm performance in Russia: an empirical study," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 385-396, November.
    25. Morck, Randall & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W., 1988. "Management ownership and market valuation : An empirical analysis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(1-2), pages 293-315, January.
    26. Steven M. Fazzari & R. Glenn Hubbard & Bruce C. Petersen, 1996. "Financing Constraints and Corporate Investment: Response to Kaplan and Zingales," NBER Working Papers 5462, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    27. Perotti, Enrico C. & Gelfer, Stanislav, 2001. "Red barons or robber barons? Governance and investment in Russian financial-industrial groups," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(9), pages 1601-1617, October.
    28. Simeon Djankov, 1999. "The restructuring of insider‐dominated firms: A comparative analysis," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 7(2), pages 467-479, July.
    29. Bonin, John P & Jones, Derek C & Putterman, Louis, 1993. "Theoretical and Empirical Studies of Producer Cooperatives: Will Ever the Twain Meet?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 31(3), pages 1290-1320, September.
    30. Jones, Derek C. & Mygind, Niels, 1999. "The Nature and Determinants of Ownership Changes after Privatization: Evidence from Estonia," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 422-441, September.
    31. Blanchard, O. & Aghion, P., 1996. "On insider privatization," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(3-5), pages 759-766, April.
    32. Robert Cressy & Otto Toivanen, 2001. "Is there adverse selection in the credit market?," Venture Capital, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 3(3), pages 215-238, July.
    33. Michael N. Young & Mike W. Peng & David Ahlstrom & Garry D. Bruton & Yi Jiang, 2008. "Corporate Governance in Emerging Economies: A Review of the Principal–Principal Perspective," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(1), pages 196-220, January.
    34. Jorgenson, Dale W, 1971. "Econometric Studies of Investment Behavior: A Survey," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 9(4), pages 1111-1147, December.
    35. Stein, Jeremy C., 2003. "Agency, information and corporate investment," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, in: G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Finance, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 2, pages 111-165, Elsevier.
    36. Kim, Chang-Soo & Mauer, David C. & Sherman, Ann E., 1998. "The Determinants of Corporate Liquidity: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 33(3), pages 335-359, September.
    37. Igor Filatotchev & Mike Wright & Michael Bleaney, 1999. "Privatization, insider control and managerial entrenchment in Russia," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 7(2), pages 481-504, July.
    38. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    39. Igor Filatotchev & Rostislav Kapelyushnikov & Natalya Dyomina & Sergey Aukutsionek, 2001. "The effects of ownership concentration on investment and performance in privatized firms in Russia," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(6), pages 299-313.
    40. G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), 2003. "Handbook of the Economics of Finance," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 1, number 2.
    41. Michael Carney & Eric Gedajlovic, 2002. "The Coupling of Ownership and Control and the Allocation of Financial Resources: Evidence from Hong Kong," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(1), pages 123-146, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bersant Hobdari & Aleksandra Gregoric & Evis Sinani, 2011. "The role of firm ownership on internationalization: evidence from two transition economies," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 15(3), pages 393-413, August.
    2. Valentina Peruzzi, 2017. "Does family ownership structure affect investment-cash flow sensitivity? Evidence from Italian SMEs," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(43), pages 4378-4393, September.
    3. Stijn Claessens & M Ayhan Kose, 2018. "Frontiers of macrofinancial linkages," BIS Papers, Bank for International Settlements, number 95.
    4. Chen, Alex A. & Cao, Hong & Zhang, Dayong & Dickinson, David G., 2013. "The impact of shareholding structure on firm investment: Evidence from Chinese listed companies," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 85-100.
    5. Julio Pindado & Chabela De La Torre, 2009. "Effect of ownership structure on underinvestment and overinvestment: empirical evidence from Spain," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 49(2), pages 363-383, June.
    6. Beck, Thorsten & Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Laeven, Luc & Maksimovic, Vojislav, 2006. "The determinants of financing obstacles," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 25(6), pages 932-952, October.
    7. Vijayakumaran, Ratnam, 2021. "Impact of managerial ownership on investment and liquidity constraints: Evidence from Chinese listed companies," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    8. Goergen, Marc & Renneboog, Luc, 2001. "Investment policy, internal financing and ownership concentration in the UK," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 257-284, September.
    9. Julan Du & Charles Ka Yui Leung & Derek Chu, 2014. "Return Enhancing, Cash-rich or simply Empire-Building? An Empirical Investigation of Corporate Real Estate Holdings," International Real Estate Review, Global Social Science Institute, vol. 17(3), pages 301-357.
    10. Crisóstomo, Vicente Lima & López-Iturriaga, Félix Javier & Vallelado González, Eleuterio, 2014. "Nonfinancial companies as large shareholders alleviate financial constraints of Brazilian firm," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(C), pages 62-77.
    11. Laeven, Luc, 2000. "Does financial liberalization relax financing constraints on firms ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2467, The World Bank.
    12. Gugler, Klaus & Peev, Evgeni & Segalla, Esther, 2013. "The internal workings of internal capital markets: Cross-country evidence," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 20(C), pages 59-73.
    13. Natalia Isachenkova & Tomasz Marek Mickiewicz, 2003. "Ownership Characteristics and Access to Finance: Evidence from a Survey of Large Privatised Companies in Hungary and Poland," UCL SSEES Economics and Business working paper series 35, UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES).
    14. Kampouris, Ilias & Mertzanis, Charilaos & Samitas, Aristeidis, 2022. "Foreign ownership and the financing constraints of firms operating in a multinational environment," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    15. R. Glenn Hubbard, 1998. "Capital-Market Imperfections and Investment," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(1), pages 193-225, March.
    16. Oksanen, Olli-Pekka, 2006. "Are Foreign Investments Replacing Domestic Investments? - Evidence from Finnish Manufacturing," Discussion Papers 1001, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
    17. Ann E. Harrison & Inessa Love & Margaret S. McMillan, 2022. "Global capital flows and financing constraints," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Globalization, Firms, and Workers, chapter 8, pages 181-213, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    18. Greenaway, David & Guariglia, Alessandra & Kneller, Richard, 2007. "Financial factors and exporting decisions," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(2), pages 377-395, November.
    19. Khosa,Amrinder & Ahmed,Kamran & Henry,Darren, 2019. "Ownership Structure, Related Party Transactions, and Firm Valuation," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781108492195.
    20. Trojanowski, G., 2004. "Ownership structure as a mechanism of corporate governance," Other publications TiSEM 5dbc874d-d1d0-44a5-9717-8, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:corgov:v:16:y:2008:i:6:p:536-549. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0964-8410&site=1 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.