IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/ijecbs/v10y2003i3p261-289.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Corporate governance and investment

Author

Listed:
  • Klaus Gugler

Abstract

This article contributes in at least three ways to the investment-cash flow literature. First, it finds that the corporate governance environment of a firm affects the relationship between investment and cash flow. Second, it allows for both asymmetric information and managerial discretion explanations for positive investment-cash flow coefficients, thereby overcoming most of the ambiguities in this interpretation. Finally, by using a GMM estimator most of the problems with traditional OLS models are avoided. It is found that family-controlled firms appear to suffer from cash constraints as evidenced by a positive and robust relationship of investment to cash flow. State-controlled firms also exhibit a positive and significant cash flow sensitivity, which we explain by managerial discretion.

Suggested Citation

  • Klaus Gugler, 2003. "Corporate governance and investment," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(3), pages 261-289.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:ijecbs:v:10:y:2003:i:3:p:261-289
    DOI: 10.1080/1357151032000126238
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/1357151032000126238
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/1357151032000126238?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bronwyn H. Hall & Jacques Mairesse & Benoit Mulkay, 1998. "Does cash flow cause investment and R&D: an exploration using panel data for French, Japanes and United States scientific firms," IFS Working Papers W98/11, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    2. Chirinko, Robert S, 1993. "Business Fixed Investment Spending: Modeling Strategies, Empirical Results, and Policy Implications," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 31(4), pages 1875-1911, December.
    3. Stewart C. Myers & Nicholas S. Majluf, 1984. "Corporate Financing and Investment Decisions When Firms Have InformationThat Investors Do Not Have," NBER Working Papers 1396, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Myers, Stewart C. & Majluf, Nicholas S., 1984. "Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 187-221, June.
    5. Robert S. Chirinko, 1992. "Business Fixed Investment Spending: A Critical survey of Modeling Strategies, Empirical Results, and Policy Implications," Working Papers 9213, Harris School of Public Policy Studies, University of Chicago.
    6. Michael Salinger & Lawrence H. Summers, 1983. "Tax Reform and Corporate Investment: A Microeconometric Simulation Study," NBER Chapters, in: Behavioral Simulation Methods in Tax Policy Analysis, pages 247-288, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Jacques Mairesse & Bronwyn H. Hall & Benoît Mulkay, 1999. "Firm-Level Investment in France and the United States: An Exploration of What We Have Learned in Twenty Years," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 55-56, pages 27-67.
    8. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1997. "A Survey of Corporate Governance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(2), pages 737-783, June.
    9. Charles J. Hadlock, 1998. "Ownership, Liquidity, and Investment," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 29(3), pages 487-508, Autumn.
    10. La Porta, Rafael & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1997. "Legal Determinants of External Finance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(3), pages 1131-1150, July.
    11. Klaus Gugler & Dennis C. Mueller & B. Burcin Yurtoglu, 2004. "Marginal q, Tobin’s q, Cash Flow, and Investment," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 70(3), pages 512-531, January.
    12. Robin Marris, 1998. "Managerial Capitalism in Retrospect," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-0-230-37616-8, December.
    13. Gugler, Klaus (ed.), 2001. "Corporate Governance and Economic Performance," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199245703, Decembrie.
    14. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    15. Shinnear, Reuel & Dressler, Ofer & Feng, C A & Avidan, Alan I, 1989. "Estimation of the Economic Rate of Return for Industrial Companies," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 62(3), pages 417-445, July.
    16. Takeo Hoshi & Anil Kashyap & David Scharfstein, 1991. "Corporate Structure, Liquidity, and Investment: Evidence from Japanese Industrial Groups," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 106(1), pages 33-60.
    17. Anderson, G J, 1981. "A New Approach to the Empirical Investigation of Investment Expenditures," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 91(361), pages 88-103, March.
    18. Hausman, Jerry, 2015. "Specification tests in econometrics," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 38(2), pages 112-134.
    19. Hoshi, Takeo & Kashyap, Anil & Scharfstein, David, 1990. "The role of banks in reducing the costs of financial distress in Japan," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 67-88, September.
    20. 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.
    21. Steven M. Fazzari & R. Glenn Hubbard & Bruce C. Petersen, 2000. "Investment-Cash Flow Sensitivities are Useful: A Comment on Kaplan and Zingales," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 115(2), pages 695-705.
    22. Stephen Bond & Costas Meghir, 1994. "Dynamic Investment Models and the Firm's Financial Policy," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 61(2), pages 197-222.
    23. Prowse, Stephen D., 1990. "Institutional investment patterns and corporate financial behavior in the United States and Japan," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 43-66, September.
    24. 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.
    25. Steven N. Kaplan & Luigi Zingales, 2000. "Investment-Cash Flow Sensitivities Are Not Valid Measures of Financing Constraints," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 115(2), pages 707-712.
    26. Alessandra Guariglia, 1999. "The Effects of Financial Constraints on Inventory Investment: Evidence from a Panel of UK Firms," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 66(261), pages 43-62, February.
    27. R. Glenn Hubbard, 1998. "Capital-Market Imperfections and Investment," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(1), pages 193-225, March.
    28. Grabowski, Henry G & Mueller, Dennis C, 1972. "Managerial and Stockholder Welfare Models of Firm Expenditures," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 54(1), pages 9-24, February.
    29. 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.
    30. Stephen Bond & Dietmar Harhoff & John Van Reenen, 2010. "Investment, R&D and Financial Constraints in Britain and Germany," NBER Chapters, in: Contributions in Memory of Zvi Griliches, pages 433-460, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    31. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez‐De‐Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 1999. "Corporate Ownership Around the World," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(2), pages 471-517, April.
    32. repec:adr:anecst:y:1999:i:55-56:p:02 is not listed on IDEAS
    33. Mueller,Dennis C., 2009. "Profits in the Long Run," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521101592.
    34. Grabowski, Henry G & Mueller, Dennis C, 1975. "Life-Cycle Effects on Corporate Returns on Retentions," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 57(4), pages 400-409, November.
    35. Himmelberg, Charles P & Petersen, Bruce C, 1994. "R&D and Internal Finance: A Panel Study of Small Firms in High-Tech Industries," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 76(1), pages 38-51, February.
    36. Mueller, Dennis C, 1972. "A Life Cycle Theory of the Firm," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(3), pages 199-219, July.
    37. Caballero, Ricardo J., 1999. "Aggregate investment," Handbook of Macroeconomics, in: J. B. Taylor & M. Woodford (ed.), Handbook of Macroeconomics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 12, pages 813-862, Elsevier.
    38. Robert H. Gertner & David S. Scharfstein & Jeremy C. Stein, 1994. "Internal versus External Capital Markets," NBER Working Papers 4776, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    39. White, Halbert, 1980. "A Heteroskedasticity-Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimator and a Direct Test for Heteroskedasticity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(4), pages 817-838, May.
    40. Robert H. Gertner & David S. Scharfstein & Jeremy C. Stein, 1994. "Internal versus External Capital Markets," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 109(4), pages 1211-1230.
    41. Cho, Myeong-Hyeon, 1998. "Ownership structure, investment, and the corporate value: an empirical analysis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 103-121, January.
    42. Marco Becht & Ekkehart Boehmer, 2001. "Ownership and voting power in Germany," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/13334, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    43. Robin Marris, 1963. "A Model of the "Managerial" Enterprise," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 77(2), pages 185-209.
    44. Stiglitz, Joseph E & Weiss, Andrew, 1981. "Credit Rationing in Markets with Imperfect Information," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(3), pages 393-410, June.
    45. Ricardo J. Caballero & Eduardo M. R. A. Engel & John C. Haltiwanger, 1995. "Plant-Level Adjustment and Aggregate Investment Dynamics," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 26(2), pages 1-54.
    46. Sanford J. Grossman & Oliver D. Hart, 1980. "Takeover Bids, the Free-Rider Problem, and the Theory of the Corporation," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 11(1), pages 42-64, Spring.
    47. Baumol, William J, et al, 1970. "Earnings Retention, New Capital and the Growth of the Firm," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 52(4), pages 345-355, November.
    48. 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.
    49. Oliner, Stephen D & Rudebusch, Glenn D, 1992. "Sources of the Financing Hierarchy for Business Investment," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 74(4), pages 643-654, November.
    50. Marco Becht & Fabrizio Barca, 2001. "The control of corporate Europe," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/13302, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    51. 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.
    52. Prowse, Stephen D, 1992. "The Structure of Corporate Ownership in Japan," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(3), pages 1121-1140, July.
    53. Steven N. Kaplan & Luigi Zingales, 1997. "Do Investment-Cash Flow Sensitivities Provide Useful Measures of Financing Constraints?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(1), pages 169-215.
    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. Coad, Alex, 2010. "Neoclassical vs evolutionary theories of financial constraints: Critique and prospectus," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 206-218, 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. Martinsson, Gustav, 2009. "Finance and R&D Investments - is there a debt overhang effect on R&D investments?," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 174, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.
    4. 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).
    5. Degryse, Hans & de Jong, Abe, 2006. "Investment and internal finance: Asymmetric information or managerial discretion?," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 125-147, January.
    6. Audretsch, David B. & Weigand, Jurgen, 2005. "Do knowledge conditions make a difference?: Investment, finance and ownership in German industries," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 595-613, June.
    7. Jean-Bernard Chatelain, 2003. "Structural modelling of financial constraints on investment: where do we stand?," Chapters, in: Paul Butzen & Catherine Fuss (ed.), Firms’ Investment and Finance Decisions, chapter 2, pages 40-58, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    8. 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.
    9. Hönig, Anja, 2012. "Financing Constraints Revisited - Is there a Role for Taxation and Internal Funds?," VfS Annual Conference 2012 (Goettingen): New Approaches and Challenges for the Labor Market of the 21st Century 66053, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    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. Gugler, Klaus, 2003. "Corporate governance, dividend payout policy, and the interrelation between dividends, R&D, and capital investment," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(7), pages 1297-1321, July.
    12. Wei, K.C. John & Zhang, Yi, 2008. "Ownership structure, cash flow, and capital investment: Evidence from East Asian economies before the financial crisis," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 118-132, April.
    13. Stijn Claessens & M Ayhan Kose, 2018. "Frontiers of macrofinancial linkages," BIS Papers, Bank for International Settlements, number 95.
    14. Klaus Gugler & Dennis C. Mueller & B. Burcin Yurtoglu, 2001. "Corporate Governance, Capital MarketDiscipline and the Returns on Investment," CIG Working Papers FS IV 01-25, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin (WZB), Research Unit: Competition and Innovation (CIG).
    15. Koo, Jaewoon & Maeng, Kyunghee, 2005. "The effect of financial liberalization on firms' investments in Korea," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 281-297, April.
    16. Alfredo Bobillo & Juan Rodriguez Sanz & Fernando Tejerina Gaite, 2009. "Investment Decisions, Liquidity, and Institutional Activism: An International Study," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 87(1), pages 25-40, April.
    17. 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.
    18. Paul Mizen & Cihan Yalcin, 2006. "Monetary Policy, Corporate Financial Composition and Real Activity," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo, vol. 52(1), pages 177-213, March.
    19. Jean-Bernard Chatelain, 2002. "Structural modelling of investment and financial constraints: Where do we stand?," Working Paper Research 28, National Bank of Belgium.
    20. Hanna Hottenrott & Bettina Peters, 2012. "Innovative Capability and Financing Constraints for Innovation: More Money, More Innovation?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 94(4), pages 1126-1142, November.

    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:taf:ijecbs:v:10:y:2003:i:3:p:261-289. 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: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/CIJB20 .

    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.