IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/bdi/wptemi/td_1327_21.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Foreign investors and target firms’ financial structure: cavalry or locusts?

Author

Listed:
  • Lorenzo Bencivelli

    (Bank of Italy)

  • Beniamino Pisicoli

    (University of Rome Tor Vergata)

Abstract

We study how FDI affects the financial structure of targeted firms, by looking at a sample of foreign acquisitions that occurred in Italy between 1998 and 2016. We show that the entry of foreign investors promotes the diversification of financing sources. Moreover, foreign acquisitions lower investment sensitivity to the availability of bank credit and the cash flow sensitivity of cash, allowing targeted firms to rely more on non-bank external financing channels. Importantly, these effects are stronger for investment in intangible assets. These findings suggest that the positive productivity effects of FDI emphasized in the literature are, at least in part, traceable to enhanced investment in capital that is harder to finance through the banking sector.

Suggested Citation

  • Lorenzo Bencivelli & Beniamino Pisicoli, 2021. "Foreign investors and target firms’ financial structure: cavalry or locusts?," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 1327, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    • Handle: RePEc:bdi:wptemi:td_1327_21
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.bancaditalia.it/pubblicazioni/temi-discussione/2021/2021-1327/en_tema_1327.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alquist, Ron & Berman, Nicolas & Mukherjee, Rahul & Tesar, Linda L., 2019. "Financial constraints, institutions, and foreign ownership," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 63-83.
    2. La Porta, Rafael & Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert, 1999. "The Quality of Government," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 15(1), pages 222-279, April.
    3. Bircan, Çağatay, 2019. "Ownership Structure and Productivity of Multinationals," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 125-143.
    4. 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.
    5. Diamond, Douglas W, 1991. "Monitoring and Reputation: The Choice between Bank Loans and Directly Placed Debt," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(4), pages 689-721, August.
    6. Borisova, Ginka & Brown, James R., 2013. "R&D sensitivity to asset sale proceeds: New evidence on financing constraints and intangible investment," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 159-173.
    7. Anwar, Sajid & Sun, Sizhong, 2015. "Can the presence of foreign investment affect the capital structure of domestic firms?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 32-43.
    8. Cantillo, Miguel & Wright, Julian, 2000. "How Do Firms Choose Their Lenders? An Empirical Investigation," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 13(1), pages 155-189.
    9. Rabin Hattari & Ramkishen S. Rajan, 2011. "How Different are FDI and FPI Flows?: Does Distance Alter the Composition of Capital Flows?," Working Papers 092011, Hong Kong Institute for Monetary Research.
    10. Patrick Bolton & Xavier Freixas & Leonardo Gambacorta & Paolo Emilio Mistrulli, 2016. "Relationship and Transaction Lending in a Crisis," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 29(10), pages 2643-2676.
    11. Bollaert, Helen & Delanghe, Marieke, 2015. "Securities Data Company and Zephyr, data sources for M&A research," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 85-100.
    12. Tobias Berg & Anthony Saunders & Sascha Steffen, 2016. "The Total Cost of Corporate Borrowing in the Loan Market: Don't Ignore the Fees," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 71(3), pages 1357-1392, June.
    13. Giorgio Barba Navaretti & Davide Castellani, 2003. "Investments Abroad and Performance at Home Evidence from Italian Multinationals," Development Working Papers 180, Centro Studi Luca d'Agliano, University of Milano.
    14. Stiebale, Joel, 2016. "Cross-border M&As and innovative activity of acquiring and target firms," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 1-15.
    15. Aprigliano, Valentina & Emiliozzi, Simone & Guaitoli, Gabriele & Luciani, Andrea & Marcucci, Juri & Monteforte, Libero, 2023. "The power of text-based indicators in forecasting Italian economic activity," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 791-808.
    16. Serguey Braguinsky & Atsushi Ohyama & Tetsuji Okazaki & Chad Syverson, 2015. "Acquisitions, Productivity, and Profitability: Evidence from the Japanese Cotton Spinning Industry," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(7), pages 2086-2119, July.
    17. Nicolas Véron & Guntram B. Wolff, 2016. "Capital Markets Union: A Vision for the Long Term," Journal of Financial Regulation, Oxford University Press, vol. 2(1), pages 130-153.
    18. 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.
    19. Mary Amiti & David E. Weinstein, 2018. "How Much Do Idiosyncratic Bank Shocks Affect Investment? Evidence from Matched Bank-Firm Loan Data," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 126(2), pages 525-587.
    20. Maria Guadalupe & Olga Kuzmina & Catherine Thomas, 2012. "Innovation and Foreign Ownership," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(7), pages 3594-3627, December.
    21. Alessandro Borin & Michele Mancini, 2016. "Foreign direct investment and firm performance: an empirical analysis of Italian firms," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 152(4), pages 705-732, November.
    22. Alfaro, Laura & Chanda, Areendam & Kalemli-Ozcan, Sebnem & Sayek, Selin, 2004. "FDI and economic growth: the role of local financial markets," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 89-112, October.
    23. Chiara Bentivogli & Litterio Mirenda, 2017. "Foreign ownership and performance: evidence from a panel of Italian firms," IFC Bulletins chapters, in: Bank for International Settlements (ed.), Uses of central balance sheet data offices' information, volume 45, Bank for International Settlements.
    24. Anil K Kashyap & Owen A. Lamont & Jeremy C. Stein, 1994. "Credit Conditions and the Cyclical Behavior of Inventories," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 109(3), pages 565-592.
    25. Heitor Almeida & Murillo Campello, 2007. "Financial Constraints, Asset Tangibility, and Corporate Investment," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 20(5), pages 1429-1460, 2007 12.
    26. Jun-Koo Kang & Rene M. Stulz, 1997. "Is Bank-Centered Corporate Governance Worth It? A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the Performance of Japanese Firms during the Asset Price Deflation," NBER Working Papers 6238, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    27. Federico Cingano & Francesco Manaresi & Enrico Sette, 2016. "Does Credit Crunch Investment Down? New Evidence on the Real Effects of the Bank-Lending Channel," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 29(10), pages 2737-2773.
    28. Lin, Chen & Ma, Yue & Malatesta, Paul & Xuan, Yuhai, 2011. "Ownership structure and the cost of corporate borrowing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(1), pages 1-23, April.
    29. Fatemi, Ali M., 1988. "The effect of international diversification on corporate financing policy," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 17-30, January.
    30. Hattari, Rabin & S. Rajan, Ramkishen, 2011. "How Different are FDI and FPI Flows?: Distance and Capital Market Integration," Journal of Economic Integration, Center for Economic Integration, Sejong University, vol. 26, pages 499-525.
    31. Heitor Almeida & Murillo Campello & Michael S. Weisbach, 2004. "The Cash Flow Sensitivity of Cash," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 59(4), pages 1777-1804, August.
    32. Beata Smarzynska Javorcik, 2004. "Does Foreign Direct Investment Increase the Productivity of Domestic Firms? In Search of Spillovers Through Backward Linkages," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(3), pages 605-627, June.
    33. Marco Caliendo & Sabine Kopeinig, 2008. "Some Practical Guidance For The Implementation Of Propensity Score Matching," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(1), pages 31-72, February.
    34. Giovanni Dell’Ariccia & Dalida Kadyrzhanova & Camelia Minoiu & Lev Ratnovski, 2021. "Bank Lending in the Knowledge Economy," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 34(10), pages 5036-5076.
    35. Huberman, Gur, 2001. "Familiarity Breeds Investment," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 14(3), pages 659-680.
    36. Ertugrul, Mine & Lei, Jin & Qiu, Jiaping & Wan, Chi, 2017. "Annual Report Readability, Tone Ambiguity, and the Cost of Borrowing," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 52(2), pages 811-836, April.
    37. Jeremy C. Stein & Anil K. Kashyap, 2000. "What Do a Million Observations on Banks Say about the Transmission of Monetary Policy?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(3), pages 407-428, June.
    38. Yadong Luo & Rosalie L Tung, 2007. "International expansion of emerging market enterprises: A springboard perspective," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 38(4), pages 481-498, July.
    39. Sam Langfield & Marco Pagano, 2016. "Bank bias in Europe: effects on systemic risk and growth," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 31(85), pages 51-106.
    40. Hale, Galina & Santos, João A.C., 2008. "The decision to first enter the public bond market: The role of firm reputation, funding choices, and bank relationships," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(9), pages 1928-1940, September.
    41. Yu Wu & Xiao Li & Yan Zhang & Kai Li, 2019. "FDI inflow and financial costs of local firms," Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(4), pages 515-529, October.
    42. Eun, Cheol S. & Kolodny, Richard & Scheraga, Carl, 1996. "Cross-border acquisitions and shareholder wealth: Tests of the synergy and internalization hypotheses," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 20(9), pages 1559-1582, November.
    43. Zou, Hong & Adams, Mike B., 2008. "Debt Capacity, Cost of Debt, and Corporate Insurance," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 43(2), pages 433-466, June.
    44. Slovin, Myron B & Sushka, Marie E & Polonchek, John A, 1993. "The Value of Bank Durability: Borrowers as Bank Stakeholders," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 48(1), pages 247-266, March.
    45. Chiara Bentivogli & Litterio Mirenda, 2017. "Foreign Ownership and Performance: Evidence from Italian Firms," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(3), pages 251-273, September.
    46. Sun, Qi & Xiaolan, Mindy Z., 2019. "Financing intangible capital," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(2), pages 472-496.
    47. Khatami, Seyed Hossein & Marchica, Maria-Teresa & Mura, Roberto, 2015. "Corporate acquisitions and financial constraints," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 107-121.
    48. Sumit Agarwal, 2010. "Distance and Private Information in Lending," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(7), pages 2757-2788, July.
    49. Kiviet, Jan F., 1995. "On bias, inconsistency, and efficiency of various estimators in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 53-78, July.
    50. Matteo Bugamelli & Francesca Lotti & Monica Amici & Emanuela Ciapanna & Fabrizio Colonna & Francesco D�Amuri & Silvia Giacomelli & Andrea Linarello & Francesco Manaresi & Giuliana Palumbo & Filippo , 2018. "Productivity growth in Italy: a tale of a slow-motion change," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 422, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    51. Aleksander Rutkowski, 2006. "Inward FDI and Financial Constraints in Central and East European Countries," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(5), pages 28-60, October.
    52. Robert Hauswald & Robert Marquez, 2006. "Competition and Strategic Information Acquisition in Credit Markets," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 19(3), pages 967-1000.
    53. James R. Brown & Steven M. Fazzari & Bruce C. Petersen, 2009. "Financing Innovation and Growth: Cash Flow, External Equity, and the 1990s R&D Boom," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(1), pages 151-185, February.
    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. Francesca Lilla, 2021. "Volatility Bursts: A discrete-time option model with multiple volatility components," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 1336, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    2. Luca Rossi, 2021. "Revisiting the Case for a Fiscal Union: the Federal Fiscal Channel of Downside-Risk Sharing in the United States," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 1351, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    3. Alessandro Moro, 2021. "Can capital controls promote green investments in developing countries?," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 1348, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    4. Gennaro Catapano & Francesco Franceschi & Valentina Michelangeli & Michele Loberto, 2021. "Macroprudential Policy Analysis via an Agent Based Model of the Real Estate Sector," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 1338, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    5. Adriana Grasso & Guido Traficante, 2021. "Optimal robust monetary policy with parameters and output gap uncertainty," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 1339, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    6. Alfonso Rosolia, 2021. "Does information about current inflation affect expectations and decisions? Another look at Italian firms," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 1353, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    7. Eleonora Santos, 2023. "FDI and Firm Productivity: A Comprehensive Review of Macroeconomic and Microeconomic Models," Economies, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-15, June.
    8. Alessandro Mistretta, 2021. "Business cycle synchronization or business cycle transmission? The effect of the German slowdown on the Italian economy," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 1346, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.

    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. Lorenzo Bencivelli & Beniamino Pisicoli, 2022. "Foreign investors and target firms’ financial structure," International Economics, CEPII research center, issue 169, pages 230-251.
    2. Beccari, Gabriele & Pisicoli, Beniamino & Vocalelli, Giorgio, 2023. "Barbarians at the gate? FDI and target firms’ management quality," MPRA Paper 117242, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Iwaki, Hiromichi, 2019. "The effect of debt market imperfection on capital structure and investment: Evidence from the 2008 global financial crisis in Japan," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 251-266.
    4. Dwenger, Nadja & Fossen, Frank & Simmler, Martin, 2015. "From financial to real economic crisis. Evidence from individual firm-bank relationships in Germany," VfS Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 113000, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    5. Nadja Dwenger & Frank M Fossen & Martin Simmler, 2015. "From financial to real economic crisis: evidence from individual firm¨Cbank relationships in Germany," Working Papers 1516, Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation.
    6. Gabriele Beccari & Francesco Marchionne & Beniamino Pisicoli, 2022. "Alternative financing and investment in intangibles: evidence from Italian firms," Mo.Fi.R. Working Papers 174, Money and Finance Research group (Mo.Fi.R.) - Univ. Politecnica Marche - Dept. Economic and Social Sciences.
    7. Massa, Massimo & Zhang, Lei, 2013. "Monetary policy and regional availability of debt financing," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(4), pages 439-458.
    8. Dwenger, Nadja & Fossen, Frank M. & Simmler, Martin, 2020. "Firms’ financial and real responses to credit supply shocks: Evidence from firm-bank relationships in Germany," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 41(C).
    9. Francesco Bripi & David Loschiavo & Davide Revelli, 2020. "Services trade and credit frictions: Evidence with matched bank–firm data," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(5), pages 1216-1252, May.
    10. Oscar Mauricio Valencia-Arana & Jose Eduardo Gomez-Gonzalez & Andrés Garcia-Suaza, 2017. "Young Innovative Firms, Investment-Cash Flow Sensitivities and Technological Misallocation," Borradores de Economia 1004, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    11. Ivashina, Victoria & Laeven, Luc & Moral-Benito, Enrique, 2022. "Loan types and the bank lending channel," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 171-187.
    12. Ricci, Lorenzo & Soggia, Giovanni & Trimarchi, Lorenzo, 2023. "The impact of bank lending standards on credit to firms," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    13. Chava, Sudheer & Purnanandam, Amiyatosh, 2011. "The effect of banking crisis on bank-dependent borrowers," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(1), pages 116-135, January.
    14. Chen, Deqiu & Li, Sifei & Xiao, Jason Zezhong & Zou, Hong, 2014. "The effect of government quality on corporate cash holdings," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 384-400.
    15. Stiebale, Joel & Vencappa, Dev, 2018. "Acquisitions, markups, efficiency, and product quality: Evidence from India," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 70-87.
    16. Liu, Duan & Li, Zhiyuan & He, Hongbo & Hou, Wenxuan, 2021. "The determinants of R&D smoothing with asset sales: Evidence from R&D-intensive firms in China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 76-93.
    17. Galina Hale & Tümer Kapan & Camelia Minoiu & Philip Strahan, 2020. "Shock Transmission Through Cross-Border Bank Lending: Credit and Real Effects," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 33(10), pages 4839-4882.
    18. Calomiris, Charles W. & Himmelberg, Charles P. & Wachtel, Paul, 1995. "Commercial paper, corporate finance, and the business cycle: a microeconomic perspective," Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 203-250, June.
    19. Fatematuz Tamanna Ahamed & Muhammad Nurul Houqe & Tony van Zijl, 2023. "Meta‐analysis of the impact of financial constraints on firm performance," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(2), pages 1671-1707, June.
    20. Murillo Campello & Erasmo Giambona, 2011. "Capital Structure and the Redeployability of Tangible Assets," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 11-091/2/DSF24, Tinbergen Institute.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    FDIs; firms’ financial structure; non-bank financing; investment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration
    • F21 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Investment; Long-Term Capital Movements
    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
    • F61 - International Economics - - Economic Impacts of Globalization - - - Microeconomic Impacts

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:bdi:wptemi:td_1327_21. 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/bdigvit.html .

    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.