IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/riibaf/v66y2023ics0275531923001514.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Financial market imperfections and sensitivity of cash holdings to R&D investment: Evidence from chinese listed firms

Author

Listed:
  • Liu, Duan
  • Wang, Chen
  • Zhang, Hui
  • Yao, Shujie
  • Li, Zixin

Abstract

Previous studies on developed economies have shown that firms with more research and development (R&D) activities tend to hold more cash. In a transitional economy, such as China, where financial market imperfections prevail, the likelihood of firms reserving cash for R&D is even higher. This study identifies two alternative credit financing channels, equity state-ownership and bank connection, that can be used by Chinese listed firms to raise external funds and mitigate the market imperfection problem. Typical external financing facilitation channels (EFFCs) effectively mitigate financial constraints through reducing information asymmetry between firms and creditors, alleviating R&D dependence on cash holdings. However, as China’s financial reform deepens, market environment improvement weakens the EFFC effect. Hence, this study deliberates on the mechanisms by which the EFFC effect may be reduced, leading to useful policy implications for financial market reform in China to abate innovation costs.

Suggested Citation

  • Liu, Duan & Wang, Chen & Zhang, Hui & Yao, Shujie & Li, Zixin, 2023. "Financial market imperfections and sensitivity of cash holdings to R&D investment: Evidence from chinese listed firms," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:riibaf:v:66:y:2023:i:c:s0275531923001514
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ribaf.2023.102025
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0275531923001514
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ribaf.2023.102025?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. Guariglia, Alessandra & Liu, Xiaoxuan & Song, Lina, 2011. "Internal finance and growth: Microeconometric evidence on Chinese firms," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(1), pages 79-94, September.
    2. Holmstrom, Bengt, 1989. "Agency costs and innovation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 305-327, December.
    3. Petersen, Mitchell A & Rajan, Raghuram G, 1997. "Trade Credit: Theories and Evidence," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 10(3), pages 661-691.
    4. Qi Chen & Xiao Chen & Katherine Schipper & Yongxin Xu & Jian Xue, 2012. "The Sensitivity of Corporate Cash Holdings to Corporate Governance," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 25(12), pages 3610-3644.
    5. Jiangang Peng & Nicolaas Groenewold & Xiangmei Fan & Guanzheng Li, 2014. "Financial System Reform and Economic Growth in a Transition Economy: The Case of China, 1978-2004," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(2S), pages 5-22, March.
    6. Wu, Wenfeng & Rui, Oliver M. & Wu, Chongfeng, 2012. "Trade credit, cash holdings, and financial deepening: Evidence from a transitional economy," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(11), pages 2868-2883.
    7. Jokivuolle, Esa & Pesola, Jarmo & Viren, Matti, 2015. "Why is credit-to-GDP a good measure for setting countercyclical capital buffers?," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 18(C), pages 117-126.
    8. Ross Levine & Norman Loayza & Thorsten Beck, 2002. "Financial Intermediation and Growth: Causality and Causes," Central Banking, Analysis, and Economic Policies Book Series, in: Leonardo Hernández & Klaus Schmidt-Hebbel & Norman Loayza (Series Editor) & Klaus Schmidt-Hebbel (Se (ed.),Banking, Financial Integration, and International Crises, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 2, pages 031-084, Central Bank of Chile.
    9. 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.
    10. Machokoto, Michael & Areneke, Geofry, 2020. "Does innovation and financial constraints affect the propensity to save in emerging markets?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    11. Ye, Jingjing & Zhang, Aoyang & Dong, Yan, 2019. "Banking reform and industry structure: Evidence from China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 70-84.
    12. 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.
    13. 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.
    14. Chong, Terence Tai-Leung & Lu, Liping & Ongena, Steven, 2013. "Does banking competition alleviate or worsen credit constraints faced by small- and medium-sized enterprises? Evidence from China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 3412-3424.
    15. Zhiwei Zhang & Dayong Zhang & Josef C. Brada & Ali M. Kutan, 2019. "Does Bank Competition Alleviate Financing Constraints in China? Further Evidence From Listed Firms," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(9), pages 2124-2145, July.
    16. Tan, Yong & Anchor, John, 2017. "The impacts of risk-taking behaviour and competition on technical efficiency: Evidence from the Chinese banking industry," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 90-104.
    17. Jiang, Chunxia & Yao, Shujie & Feng, Genfu, 2013. "Bank ownership, privatization, and performance: Evidence from a transition country," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 3364-3372.
    18. Menkhoff, Lukas & Neuberger, Doris & Suwanaporn, Chodechai, 2006. "Collateral-based lending in emerging markets: Evidence from Thailand," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 1-21, January.
    19. Desbordes, Rodolphe & Wei, Shang-Jin, 2017. "The effects of financial development on foreign direct investment," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 153-168.
    20. Degryse, Hans & Ongena, Steven, 2007. "The impact of competition on bank orientation," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 399-424, July.
    21. Lin William Cong & Haoyu Gao & Jacopo Ponticelli & Xiaoguang Yang, 2019. "Credit Allocation Under Economic Stimulus: Evidence from China," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 32(9), pages 3412-3460.
    22. Jiangang Peng & Nicolaas Groenewold & Xiangmei Fan & Guanzheng Li, 2014. "Financial System Reform and Economic Growth in a Transition Economy: The Case of China, 1978-2004," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(S2), pages 5-22.
    23. Brown, James R. & Petersen, Bruce C., 2015. "Which investments do firms protect? Liquidity management and real adjustments when access to finance falls sharply," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 441-465.
    24. Sreedhar T. Bharath & Sandeep Dahiya & Anthony Saunders & Anand Srinivasan, 2009. "Lending Relationships and Loan Contract Terms," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 24(4), pages 1141-1203.
    25. Wang, Hongjian & Luo, Tianpei & Tian, Gary Gang & Yan, Huanmin, 2020. "How does bank ownership affect firm investment? Evidence from China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    26. Fisman, Raymond & Svensson, Jakob, 2007. "Are corruption and taxation really harmful to growth? Firm level evidence," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(1), pages 63-75, May.
    27. Lu, Zhengfei & Zhu, Jigao & Zhang, Weining, 2012. "Bank discrimination, holding bank ownership, and economic consequences: Evidence from China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 341-354.
    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. Li, Yan & Zhang, Yiren & Hu, Jian & Wang, Zeyu, 2024. "Insight into the nexus between intellectual property pledge financing and enterprise innovation: A systematic analysis with multidimensional perspectives," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(PA), pages 700-719.
    2. Cui, Wenxin & Qiao, Cuixia, 2024. "Customer structure and R&D investment: Based on innovative trait," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    3. Lu, Bing & Ren, Wanwan & Liu, Wenge, 2025. "The firms’ perception of global uncertainty and R&D investment: Evidence from China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(PA).
    4. Moon, Byunggeor, 2024. "Innovative or complacent: The impact of financial conditions on firms’ strategic innovation activities—A game-theoretical approach," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    5. Chiu, Sheng-Hsiung & Lin, Tzu-Yu & Pan, Lu, 2024. "External financing sensitivities and inefficient R&D investment: Evidence from China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(PA).
    6. Li, Xiao-Lin & Si, Deng-Kui, 2024. "Does financial market liberalization promote corporate radical innovation? Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 95(PB).

    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. Francesco Aiello & Graziella Bonanno & Stefania P. S. Rossi, 2020. "How firms finance innovation. Further empirics from European SMEs," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 71(4), pages 689-714, November.
    2. Ma, Qianli & Xu, Lei & Anwar, Sajid & Lu, Zenghua, 2023. "Banking competition and the use of shadow credit: Evidence from lending marketplaces," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    3. Wang, Jingwen & Shen, Guangjun & Tang, Dunzhe, 2021. "Does tax deduction relax financing constraints? Evidence from China's value-added tax reform," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    4. Sai Ding & Minjoo Kim & Xiao Zhang, 2021. "New Insight on Investment-Cash Flow Sensitivity," Working Papers 2021_16, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.
    5. 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).
    6. Zhang, Dongyang & Liu, Deqiang, 2017. "Determinants of the capital structure of Chinese non-listed enterprises: Is TFP efficient?," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 179-202.
    7. Machokoto, Michael & Mahonye, Nyasha & Makate, Marshall, 2022. "Short-term financing sources in Africa: Substitutes or complements?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    8. Qiubin Huang & Mengyuan Xiong & Ming Xiao, 2022. "Does managerial ability affect corporate financial constraints? Evidence from China," Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(1), pages 3731-3753, December.
    9. Wang, Qian & Du, Zhuo-Ya, 2022. "Changing the impact of banking concentration on corporate innovation: The moderating effect of digital transformation," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    10. Chen, Jing & Liu, Xinghe & Ou, Fenghao & Lu, Meiting & Wang, Peipei, 2023. "Green lending and stock price crash risk: Evidence from the green credit reform in China," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    11. Falavigna, Greta & Ippoliti, Roberto, 2023. "SMEs’ behavior under financial constraints: An empirical investigation on the legal environment and the substitution effect with tax arrears," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    12. Z. Jun Lin & Shengqiang Liu & Fangcheng Sun, 2017. "The Impact of Financing Constraints and Agency Costs on Corporate R&D Investment: Evidence from China," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 17(1), pages 3-42, March.
    13. Sai Ding & Alessandra Guariglia & John Knight & Junhong Yang, 2021. "Negative Investment in China: Financing Constraints and Restructuring versus Growth," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 69(4), pages 1411-1449.
    14. Fan, Chenguang & Bae, Seongho & Liu, Yu, 2024. "Can FinTech transform corporate liquidity? Evidence from China," Innovation and Green Development, Elsevier, vol. 3(2).
    15. Zhang, Dongyang, 2020. "How do firms overcome financial constraint anxiety to survive in the market? Evidence from large manufacturing data," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    16. Afrifa, Godfred & Tingbani, Ishmael, 2017. "Working Capital Management, Cash Flow and SMEs’ Performance," MPRA Paper 82894, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Oct 2017.
    17. Hanna Hottenrott & Bronwyn H. Hall & Dirk Czarnitzki, 2016. "Patents as quality signals? The implications for financing constraints on R&D," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(3), pages 197-217, April.
    18. He, Yiqing & Ding, Xin & Yang, Chuchu, 2021. "Do environmental regulations and financial constraints stimulate corporate technological innovation? Evidence from China," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    19. Saibal Ghosh & Rudra Sensarma, 2004. "Does Monetary Policy Matter For Corporate Governance? Firm-Level Evidence From India," Advances in Financial Economics, in: Corporate Governance, pages 327-353, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    20. Amess, Kevin & Banerji, Sanjay & Lampousis, Athanasios, 2015. "Corporate cash holdings: Causes and consequences," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 421-433.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Financial market imperfection; Cash-R&D sensitivity; External financing facilitation channel (EFFC); Chinese listed firms;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G18 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation

    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:eee:riibaf:v:66:y:2023:i:c:s0275531923001514. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ribaf .

    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.