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Investment Reluctance: Irreversibility or Imperfect Capital Markets? Evidence from German Farm Panel Data

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  • Huettel, Silke
  • Musshoff, Oliver
  • Odening, Martin

Abstract

Investment behavior at the firm level is characterized by lumpy adjustments and frequent periods of inactivity. Low investment rates are particularly puzzling in transition economies where an urgent need of modernization exists. The literature offers two explanations for. Firstly, neo-institutional finance theory focuses on the impacts of imperfect capital markets on investment decisions showing that the limited availability of financial funds may confine firms' investments. Secondly, real options theory asserts that the interaction of irreversibility, uncertainty and flexibility may also result in investment reluctance. In this paper we suggest a generalized model that combines imperfect capital markets and real options effects. We also offer an econometric implementation that has the structure of a generalized tobit model. This model is applied to German farm panel data. We demonstrate that ignoring real options effects may lead to erroneous results when estimating the impact of imperfect capital markets on investment decisions.

Suggested Citation

  • Huettel, Silke & Musshoff, Oliver & Odening, Martin, 2007. "Investment Reluctance: Irreversibility or Imperfect Capital Markets? Evidence from German Farm Panel Data," 2007 Annual Meeting, July 29-August 1, 2007, Portland, Oregon 9826, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
  • Handle: RePEc:ags:aaea07:9826
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.9826
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    Cited by:

    1. Silke Huettel & Anne Margarian, 2009. "Structural change in the West German agricultural sector," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 40(s1), pages 759-772, November.

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    Keywords

    Financial Economics;

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