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Investment, R&D and financial constraints in Britain and Germany

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Author Info
Steve Bond () (Institute for Fiscal Studies and Nuffield College, Oxford)
Dietmar Harhoff
John Van Reenen

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Abstract

This paper tests for the importance of cash flow on investment in fixed capital and R&D using firm-level panel data in two countries between 1985 and 1994. For German firms, cash flow is not informative in simple econometric models of fixed investment or R&D. In identical pecifications for British firms, cash flow is informative about investment, although not about the level of R&D spending conditional on the R&D participation decision. In the UK, we also find that investment is less sensitive to cash flow for R&D-performing firms, and that cash flow predicts whether firms perform R&D or not. We confirm that these differences do not simply reflect a greater role for current cash flow in forecasting future sales. These results suggest that financial constraints are more significant in Britain, that they affect the decision to engage in R&D rather than the level of R&D spending by participants, and that consequently the British firms that do engage in R&D are a self-selected group where financing constraints tend to be less binding.

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Paper provided by Institute for Fiscal Studies in its series IFS Working Papers with number W99/05.

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Length: 55 pp.
Date of creation: Mar 1999
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Handle: RePEc:ifs:ifsewp:99/05

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
O31 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Technological Change - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
C25 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Discrete Regression and Qualitative Choice Models
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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  1. Bond, Stephen R & Jenkinson, Tim, 1996. "The Assessment: Investment Performance and Policy," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 12(2), pages 1-29, Summer.
  2. Bronwyn H. Hall, Jacques Mairesse, Lee Branstetter, and Bruno Crepon., 1998. "Does Cash Flow Cause Investment and R& D: An Exploration Using Panel Data for French, Japanese, and United States Scientific Firms," Economics Working Papers 98-260, University of California at Berkeley. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Arellano, Manuel & Bond, Stephen, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 58(2), pages 277-97, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Bronwyn Hall, 2002. "The Financing of Research and Development," Department of Economics, Working Paper Series 1004, Department of Economics, Institute for Business and Economic Research, UC Berkeley. [Downloadable!]
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  5. Bean, Charles R, 1981. "An Econometric Model of Manufacturing Investment in the UK," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 91(361), pages 106-21, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Nickell, Stephen, 1985. "Error Correction, Partial Adjustment and All That: An Expository Note," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 47(2), pages 119-29, May.
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  8. Dietmar Harhoff, 1997. "Are There Financing Constraints for R&D and Investment in German Manufacturing Firms?," CIG Working Papers FS IV 97-45, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin (WZB), Research Unit: Competition and Innovation (CIG). [Downloadable!]
  9. R. Glenn Hubbard, 1998. "Capital-Market Imperfections and Investment," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(1), pages 193-225, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. Stephen Bond & Julie Elston & Jacques Mairesse & Benoit Mulkay, 1997. "Financial Factors and Investment in Belgium, France, Germany and the UK:A Comparison Using Company Panel Data," NBER Working Papers 5900, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  11. Joao F. Gomes, 2001. "Financing Investment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(5), pages 1263-1285, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Hayashi, Fumio & Inoue, Tohru, 1991. "The Relation between Firm Growth and Q with Multiple Capital Goods: Theory and Evidence from Panel Data on Japanese Firms," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 59(3), pages 731-53, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  13. 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. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  14. Steven Fazzari & R. Glenn Hubbard & Bruce C. Petersen, 1988. "Financing Constraints and Corporate Investment," NBER Working Papers 2387, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  15. Bond, Stephen & Meghir, Costas, 1994. "Dynamic Investment Models and the Firm's Financial Policy," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 61(2), pages 197-222, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  16. S.J Nickell & D Nicolitsas, 1996. "Does Innovation Encourage Investment in Fixed Capital?," CEP Discussion Papers 0309, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
  17. M Arellano & O Bover, 1990. "Another Look at the Instrumental Variable Estimation of Error-Components Models," CEP Discussion Papers 07, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
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  18. Van Reenen, John, 1997. "Why has Britain had slower R&D growth?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(4-5), pages 493-507, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  19. Toivanen, Otto & Stoneman, Paul, 1998. "Dynamics of R&D and investment: UK evidence," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(1), pages 119-126, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  21. Janice C. Eberly & Andrew B. Abel, 2004. "Q Theory Without Adjustment Costs & Cash Flow Effects Without Financing Constraints," 2004 Meeting Papers 205, Society for Economic Dynamics. [Downloadable!]
  22. Griliches, Zvi & Mairesse, Jacques, 1983. "Comparing productivity growth: An exploration of french and U.S. industrial and firm data," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(1-2), pages 89-119. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  23. Abel, Andrew B & Blanchard, Olivier J, 1986. "The Present Value of Profits and Cyclical Movements in Investment," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 54(2), pages 249-73, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  24. Hoshi, Takeo & Kashyap, Anil & Scharfstein, David, 1991. "Corporate Structure, Liquidity, and Investment: Evidence from Japanese Industrial Groups," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 106(1), pages 33-60, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  25. 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(1995-2), pages 1-54. [Downloadable!]
  26. Michael Devereux & Fabio Schiantarelli, 1989. "Investment, Finacial Factors and Cash Flow: Evidence From UK Panel Data," NBER Working Papers 3116, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  27. Steve Bond & Jason Cummins, 2001. "Noisy share prices and the Q model of investment," IFS Working Papers W01/22, Institute for Fiscal Studies. [Downloadable!]
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