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The U-Shaped Investment Curve: Theory and Evidence

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Author Info
Cleary, Sean
Povel, Paul E M
Raith, Michael

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Abstract

This Paper examines how the investment of financially constrained firms varies with their level of internal funds. We develop a theoretical model of optimal investment under financial constraints. Our model endogenizes the costs of external funds and allows for negative levels of internal funds. We show that the resulting relationship between internal funds and investment is U-shaped. In particular, when a firm’s internal funds are negative and sufficiently low, a further decrease leads to an increase in investment. This effect is driven by the investor’s participation constraint: when part of any loan must be used to close a financing gap, the investor will provide funds only if the firm invests at a scale large enough to generate the revenue that enables the firm to repay. We test our theory using a dataset with close to 100,000 firm-year observations. The data strongly support our predictions. Among other results, we find a negative relationship between measures of internal funds and investment for a substantial share of financially constrained firms. Our results also help to explain some contrasting findings in the empirical investment literature.

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Paper provided by C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers in its series CEPR Discussion Papers with number 4206.

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Date of creation: Jan 2004
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Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:4206

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Related research
Keywords: capital market imperfections; financial constraints; financial contracts; internal funds; investment; investment-cash flow sensitivity;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Capital and Ownership Structure
G33 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Bankruptcy; Liquidation
L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets

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References listed on IDEAS
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  6. Steven N. Kaplan & Luigi Zingales, 2000. "Investment-Cash Flow Sensitivities are not Valid Measures of Financing Constraints," NBER Working Papers 7659, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  19. Bernanke, Ben & Gertler, Mark & Gilchrist, Simon, 1996. "The Financial Accelerator and the Flight to Quality," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 78(1), pages 1-15, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  20. Oliver Hart & John Moore, 1998. "Default And Renegotiation: A Dynamic Model Of Debt," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 113(1), pages 1-41, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Rose Cunningham, 2004. "Finance Constraints and Inventory Investment: Empirical Tests with Panel Data," Working Papers 04-38, Bank of Canada. [Downloadable!]
  2. Boutin, Xavier & Cestone, Giacinta & Fumagalli, Chiara & Pica, Giovanni & Serrano-Velarde, Nicolas, 2009. "The Deep Pocket Effect of Internal Capital Markets," CEPR Discussion Papers 7184, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Rose Cunningham, 2004. "Finance Constraints and Inventory Investment: Empirical Tests with Panel Data," Macroeconomics 0411015, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
  4. Sun, Jianjun & Yamori, Nobuyoshi, 2009. "Regional disparities and investment-cash flow sensitivity: Evidence from Chinese listed firms," MPRA Paper 14858, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  5. Mundaca, B. Gabriela, 2007. "Corporate investment, cash flow level and market imperfections: The case of Norway," Memorandum 03/2007, Oslo University, Department of Economics, revised 23 Feb 2009. [Downloadable!]
  6. Giorgio Calcagnini & Germana Giombini & Enrico Saltari, 2009. "Firms’ Investment in the Presence of Labor and Financial Market Imperfections," Working Papers 0901, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Department of Economics, revised 2009. [Downloadable!]
  7. Rozália Pál & Roman Kozhan, 2006. "Firms' investment under financing constraints. An euro area investigation," IEHAS Discussion Papers 0606, Institute of Economics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, revised 21 Jul 2006. [Downloadable!]
  8. Valentina Hartarska & Denis Nadolnyak, 2007. "An Impact Analysis of Microfinance in Bosnia and Herzegovina," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series wp915, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross Business School. [Downloadable!]
  9. Gianni La Cava, 2005. "Financial Constraints, the User Cost of Capital and Corporate Investment in Australia," RBA Research Discussion Papers rdp2005-12, Reserve Bank of Australia. [Downloadable!]
  10. Paul Mizen & Cihan Yalcin, 2006. "Monetary Policy, Corporate Financial Composition and Real Activity," Working Papers 0601, Research and Monetary Policy Department, Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  11. Ricardo Correa, 2008. "Bank integration and financial constraints: evidence from U.S. firms," International Finance Discussion Papers 925, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.). [Downloadable!]
  12. Filipe Silva & Carlos Carreira, 2009. "No Deep Pockets: Some stylized results on firms' financial constraints," GEMF Working Papers 2009-06, GEMF - Faculdade de Economia, Universidade de Coimbra. [Downloadable!]
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