IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/fininn/v6y2020i1d10.1186_s40854-020-00194-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Debt choice, growth opportunities and corporate investment: evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Ning Ding

    (Dongbei University of Finance and Economics)

  • Kalimullah Bhat

    (Dongbei University of Finance and Economics)

  • Khalil Jebran

    (Dongbei University of Finance and Economics)

Abstract

The study aims to investigate how relying on short-term debt may help Chinese listed firms to make efficient investment decisions and reduce overinvestment problem for low-growth firms. The study uses a large set of panel data of non-financial Chinese listed firms over the period 2007–2017 and, using the robust two-stage generalized method of moments, which is robust to unobserved heterogeneity of individual firms and addresses endogeneity issues. Findings show a positive relationship between growth and investment; this association is enhanced by leverage, especially for high-growth firms. This supports the view that short-term debt helps Chinese firms to make optimal use of leverage and therefore make better investment decisions. Furthermore, the results reveal that leverage plays a disciplining and monitoring role to reduce overinvestment incentive for low-growth firms. Overall, the study suggests that shareholders should consider short-term debt to mitigate the debt overhang problem and restrict the opportunistic behavior of managers, which can lead to efficient investment decisions. It also provides foreign investors insights about capital structure in China, and how it can help them make better investment decisions.

Suggested Citation

  • Ning Ding & Kalimullah Bhat & Khalil Jebran, 2020. "Debt choice, growth opportunities and corporate investment: evidence from China," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 6(1), pages 1-22, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:fininn:v:6:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1186_s40854-020-00194-1
    DOI: 10.1186/s40854-020-00194-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1186/s40854-020-00194-1
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1186/s40854-020-00194-1?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. Guariglia, Alessandra & Liu, Xiaoxuan & Song, Lina, 2011. "Internal finance and growth: Microeconometric evidence on Chinese firms," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(1), pages 79-94, September.
    2. Mark Gertler & Simon Gilchrist, 1994. "Monetary Policy, Business Cycles, and the Behavior of Small Manufacturing Firms," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 109(2), pages 309-340.
    3. Sean Cleary, 1999. "The Relationship between Firm Investment and Financial Status," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(2), pages 673-692, April.
    4. Alex Coad & Stjepan Srhoj, 0. "Catching Gazelles with a Lasso: Big data techniques for the prediction of high-growth firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-25.
    5. Brown, James R. & Petersen, Bruce C., 2009. "Why has the investment-cash flow sensitivity declined so sharply? Rising R&D and equity market developments," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 971-984, May.
    6. Cai, Kailan & Fairchild, Richard & Guney, Yilmaz, 2008. "Debt maturity structure of Chinese companies," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 268-297, June.
    7. Lamont, Owen, 1997. "Cash Flow and Investment: Evidence from Internal Capital Markets," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(1), pages 83-109, March.
    8. Stulz, ReneM., 1990. "Managerial discretion and optimal financing policies," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 3-27, July.
    9. Lemmon, Michael L. & Zender, Jaime F., 2019. "Asymmetric Information, Debt Capacity, and Capital Structure," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 54(1), pages 31-59, February.
    10. Jensen, Michael C, 1986. "Agency Costs of Free Cash Flow, Corporate Finance, and Takeovers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(2), pages 323-329, May.
    11. Varouj A. Aivazian & Ying Ge & Jiaping Qiu, 2005. "Debt Maturity Structure and Firm Investment," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 34(4), Winter.
    12. Alex Coad & Stjepan Srhoj, 2020. "Catching Gazelles with a Lasso: Big data techniques for the prediction of high-growth firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 55(3), pages 541-565, October.
    13. Lang, Larry & Ofek, Eli & Stulz, Rene M., 1996. "Leverage, investment, and firm growth," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 3-29, January.
    14. Poncet, Sandra & Steingress, Walter & Vandenbussche, Hylke, 2010. "Financial constraints in China: Firm-level evidence," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 411-422, September.
    15. Guariglia, Alessandra, 2008. "Internal financial constraints, external financial constraints, and investment choice: Evidence from a panel of UK firms," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(9), pages 1795-1809, September.
    16. Lam, Swee-Sum & Du, Jing, 2004. "Information asymmetry and estimation risk: Preliminary evidence from Chinese equity markets," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 311-331, June.
    17. 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.
    18. Pasquale Lucio Scandizzo, 2004. "Financing Technology: An Assessment of Theory and Practice," CEIS Research Paper 43, Tor Vergata University, CEIS.
    19. Anthony Howell, 2020. "Agglomeration, absorptive capacity and knowledge governance: implications for public–private firm innovation in China," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(8), pages 1069-1083, July.
    20. Chen, Gongmeng & Firth, Michael & Gao, Daniel N. & Rui, Oliver M., 2006. "Ownership structure, corporate governance, and fraud: Evidence from China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 424-448, June.
    21. Aivazian, Varouj A. & Ge, Ying & Qiu, Jiaping, 2005. "The impact of leverage on firm investment: Canadian evidence," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 11(1-2), pages 277-291, March.
    22. Wen, Fenghua & Xu, Longhao & Ouyang, Guangda & Kou, Gang, 2019. "Retail investor attention and stock price crash risk: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    23. Héricourt, Jérôme & Poncet, Sandra, 2009. "FDI and credit constraints: Firm-level evidence from China," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 1-21, March.
    24. Firth, Michael & Malatesta, Paul H. & Xin, Qingquan & Xu, Liping, 2012. "Corporate investment, government control, and financing channels: Evidence from China's Listed Companies," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 433-450.
    25. Gul, Ferdinand A., 1999. "Government share ownership, investment opportunity set and corporate policy choices in China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 157-172, May.
    26. Ajid ur Rehman & Man Wang & Sultan Sikandar Mirza, 2017. "How do Chinese firms adjust their financial leverage: an empirical investigation using multiple GMM models," China Finance and Economic Review, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 1-30, December.
    27. 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.
    28. Blundell, Richard & Bond, Stephen, 1998. "Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 115-143, August.
    29. Yu, Mei & Ashton, John K., 2015. "Board leadership structure for Chinese public listed companies," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 236-248.
    30. Denis, David J. & Denis, Diane K., 1993. "Managerial discretion, organizational structure, and corporate performance : A study of leveraged recapitalizations," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(1-3), pages 209-236, April.
    31. Myers, Stewart C., 1977. "Determinants of corporate borrowing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(2), pages 147-175, November.
    32. Duchin, Ran & Ozbas, Oguzhan & Sensoy, Berk A., 2010. "Costly external finance, corporate investment, and the subprime mortgage credit crisis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(3), pages 418-435, September.
    33. Lin, Chen & Su, Dongwei, 2008. "Industrial diversification, partial privatization and firm valuation: Evidence from publicly listed firms in China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 14(4), pages 405-417, September.
    34. Coles, Jeffrey L. & Daniel, Naveen D. & Naveen, Lalitha, 2006. "Managerial incentives and risk-taking," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(2), pages 431-468, February.
    35. Ahn, Seoungpil & Denis, David J. & Denis, Diane K., 2006. "Leverage and investment in diversified firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(2), pages 317-337, February.
    36. Childs, Paul D. & Mauer, David C. & Ott, Steven H., 2005. "Interactions of corporate financing and investment decisions: The effects of agency conflicts," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(3), pages 667-690, June.
    37. Yang, Xingquan & Han, Liang & Li, Wanli & Yin, Xingqiang & Tian, Lin, 2017. "Monetary policy, cash holding and corporate investment: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 110-122.
    38. Fan, Dennis K.K. & Lau, Chung-Ming & Young, Michael, 2007. "Is China's corporate governance beginning to come of age? The case of CEO turnover," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 105-120, April.
    39. 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.
    40. Viet A. Dang, 2011. "Leverage, Debt Maturity and Firm Investment: An Empirical Analysis," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(1-2), pages 225-258, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zheng, Suwen & Ye, Chunhui, 2021. "Positive Effect of Village Debt on Land Transfer: Evidence from County-level Panel Data of Village Finance in Zhejiang Province," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315412, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    2. Hongxin Yu & Yaohui Jiang & Zhaowen Zhang & Wen-Long Shang & Chunjia Han & Yuanjun Zhao, 2022. "The impact of carbon emission trading policy on firms’ green innovation in China," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 8(1), pages 1-24, December.

    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. 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).
    2. Guariglia, Alessandra & Yang, Junhong, 2016. "A balancing act: Managing financial constraints and agency costs to minimize investment inefficiency in the Chinese market," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 111-130.
    3. Dongyang Zhang, 2017. "Is working capital management value-enhancing through alleviating financial constraints? Evidence from Chinese non-listed firms," Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(4), pages 373-406, October.
    4. Sai Ding & Alessandra Guariglia & John Knight & Junhong Yang, 2021. "Negative Investment in China: Financing Constraints and Restructuring versus Growth," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 69(4), pages 1411-1449.
    5. Gaurav Gupta & Jitendra Mahakud, 2019. "Alternative measure of financial development and investment-cash flow sensitivity: evidence from an emerging economy," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 5(1), pages 1-28, December.
    6. Guariglia, Alessandra & Liu, Xiaoxuan & Song, Lina, 2011. "Internal finance and growth: Microeconometric evidence on Chinese firms," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(1), pages 79-94, September.
    7. Thoa, Tu Thi Kim & Uyen, Nguyen Thi Uyen, 2017. "Banking system reform and investment–cash flow relation: Case of a small transition economy," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 500-515.
    8. Khémiri, Wafa & Noubbigh, Hédi, 2020. "Does sub-Saharan Africa overinvest? Evidence from a panel of non-financial firms," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 118-130.
    9. Firth, Michael & Malatesta, Paul H. & Xin, Qingquan & Xu, Liping, 2012. "Corporate investment, government control, and financing channels: Evidence from China's Listed Companies," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 433-450.
    10. 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.
    11. Zhang, Dongyang & Liu, Deqiang, 2017. "Determinants of the capital structure of Chinese non-listed enterprises: Is TFP efficient?," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 179-202.
    12. Molinari, Massimo, 2013. "Joint analysis of the non-linear debt–growth nexus and cash-flow sensitivity: New evidence from Italy," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 34-44.
    13. Jiang, Zhan & Kim, Kenneth A., 2013. "Financial management in China," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 125-133.
    14. Alessandra Guariglia & Paul Mizen, 2012. "Investment and Asset Growth of Asian Firms: Evidence for Financial Resilience in the Recent Financial Crisis," Working Papers 322012, Hong Kong Institute for Monetary Research.
    15. Sai Ding & John Knight & Xiao Zhang, 2019. "Does China overinvest? Evidence from a panel of Chinese firms," The European Journal of Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(6), pages 489-507, April.
    16. Ding, Sai & Guariglia, Alessandra & Knight, John, 2013. "Investment and financing constraints in China: Does working capital management make a difference?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 1490-1507.
    17. Danso, Albert & Lartey, Theophilus & Amankwah-Amoah, Joseph & Adomako, Samuel & Lu, Qinye & Uddin, Moshfique, 2019. "Market sentiment and firm investment decision-making," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    18. Brunella Bruno & Alexandra D’Onofrio & Immacolata Marino, 2017. "Financial Frictions and Corporate Investment in Bad Times. Who Cut Back Most?," CSEF Working Papers 463, Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF), University of Naples, Italy, revised 02 May 2017.
    19. Milos Markovic & Michael A. Stemmer, 2017. "Firm Growth Dynamics and Financial Constraints: Evidence from Serbian Firms," Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 17012, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne.
    20. Gaurav Gupta & Jitendra Mahakud & Vivek Verma, 2020. "CEO's education and investment–cash flow sensitivity: an empirical investigation," International Journal of Managerial Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 17(4), pages 589-618, December.

    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:spr:fininn:v:6:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1186_s40854-020-00194-1. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.