IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/ormnsc/v57y2011i10p1861-1878.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Intellectual Capital and Financing Decisions: Evidence from the U.S. Patent Data

Author

Listed:
  • Qiao Liu

    (Guanghua School of Management, Peking University, 100871 Beijing, People's Republic of China)

  • Kit Pong Wong

    (School of Economics and Finance, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong)

Abstract

This paper develops a real options model to understand two distinct roles played by intellectual capital in corporate financing decisions. Whereas limiting a firm's debt capacity because of its low liquidation value, intellectual capital enhances a firm's debt capacity through its positive impact on earnings. Our model shows that the former dominates or is dominated by the latter, depending on whether the rate of dissipation of intellectual capital upon default is larger or smaller than a critical level, respectively. Using patent-based and research-and-development-based variables as proxies for intellectual capital, we find robust evidence that the relation between intellectual capital and leverage is positive. Specifically, a one-standard-deviation increase in the level of a firm's intellectual capital is associated with an increase of 6.6% to 21.1% in its market leverage. We further find this positive relation to be stronger for biotechnology firms. This paper was accepted by Wei Xiong, finance.

Suggested Citation

  • Qiao Liu & Kit Pong Wong, 2011. "Intellectual Capital and Financing Decisions: Evidence from the U.S. Patent Data," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 57(10), pages 1861-1878, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:57:y:2011:i:10:p:1861-1878
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.1110.1380
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.1110.1380
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/mnsc.1110.1380?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gustavo Manso, 2011. "Motivating Innovation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(5), pages 1823-1860, October.
    2. Hovakimian, Armen & Opler, Tim & Titman, Sheridan, 2001. "The Debt-Equity Choice," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 36(1), pages 1-24, March.
    3. 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.
    4. repec:bla:jfinan:v:43:y:1988:i:3:p:567-91 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. MacKie-Mason, Jeffrey K, 1990. "Do Taxes Affect Corporate Financing Decisions?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 45(5), pages 1471-1493, December.
    6. Stewart C. Myers & Nicholas S. Majluf, 1984. "Corporate Financing and Investment Decisions When Firms Have InformationThat Investors Do Not Have," NBER Working Papers 1396, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. repec:bla:jfinan:v:43:y:1988:i:1:p:1-19 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1992. "Liquidation Values and Debt Capacity: A Market Equilibrium Approach," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(4), pages 1343-1366, September.
    9. David Easley & Soeren Hvidkjaer & Maureen O'Hara, 2002. "Is Information Risk a Determinant of Asset Returns?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(5), pages 2185-2221, October.
    10. Bronwyn H. Hall & Adam B. Jaffe & Manuel Trajtenberg, 2001. "The NBER Patent Citation Data File: Lessons, Insights and Methodological Tools," NBER Working Papers 8498, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Goldstein, Robert & Ju, Nengjiu & Leland, Hayne, 2001. "An EBIT-Based Model of Dynamic Capital Structure," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 74(4), pages 483-512, October.
    12. Zvi Griliches, 1998. "Patent Statistics as Economic Indicators: A Survey," NBER Chapters, in: R&D and Productivity: The Econometric Evidence, pages 287-343, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Harris, Milton & Raviv, Artur, 1991. "The Theory of Capital Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 46(1), pages 297-355, March.
    14. Leland, Hayne E, 1994. "Corporate Debt Value, Bond Covenants, and Optimal Capital Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 49(4), pages 1213-1252, September.
    15. Michael R. Darby & Qiao Liu & Lynne G. Zucker, 2004. "High Stakes in High Technology: High-Tech Market Values as Options," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 42(3), pages 351-369, July.
    16. Easley, David & Kiefer, Nicholas M & O'Hara, Maureen, 1996. "Cream-Skimming or Profit-Sharing? The Curious Role of Purchased Order Flow," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 51(3), pages 811-833, July.
    17. Kit Wong, 2010. "On the neutrality of debt in investment intensity," Annals of Finance, Springer, vol. 6(3), pages 335-356, July.
    18. John R. Graham, 2000. "How Big Are the Tax Benefits of Debt?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(5), pages 1901-1941, October.
    19. Bronwyn H. Hall & Adam Jaffe & Manuel Trajtenberg, 2005. "Market Value and Patent Citations," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 36(1), pages 16-38, Spring.
    20. Berger, Philip G. & Ofek, Eli & Swary, Itzhak, 1996. "Investor valuation of the abandonment option," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 257-287, October.
    21. Malcolm Baker & Jeffrey Wurgler, 2002. "Market Timing and Capital Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(1), pages 1-32, February.
    22. repec:fth:harver:1473 is not listed on IDEAS
    23. Xinlei Zhao, 2009. "Technological Innovation and Acquisitions," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(7), pages 1170-1183, July.
    24. Myers, Stewart C., 1984. "Capital structure puzzle," Working papers 1548-84., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management.
    25. Rajan, Raghuram G & Zingales, Luigi, 1995. "What Do We Know about Capital Structure? Some Evidence from International Data," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 50(5), pages 1421-1460, December.
    26. Jonathan B. Berk & Richard Stanton & Josef Zechner, 2010. "Human Capital, Bankruptcy, and Capital Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(3), pages 891-926, June.
    27. Myers, Stewart C, 1984. "The Capital Structure Puzzle," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 39(3), pages 575-592, July.
    28. Mello, Antonio S & Parsons, John E, 1992. "Measuring the Agency Cost of Debt," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(5), pages 1887-1904, December.
    29. Ilya A. Strebulaev, 2007. "Do Tests of Capital Structure Theory Mean What They Say?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 62(4), pages 1747-1787, August.
    30. Pakes, Ariel, 1985. "On Patents, R&D, and the Stock Market Rate of Return," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 93(2), pages 390-409, April.
    31. Stewart C. Myers, 1984. "Capital Structure Puzzle," NBER Working Papers 1393, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    32. Tserlukevich, Yuri, 2008. "Can real options explain financing behavior?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(2), pages 232-252, August.
    33. Nicholas Bloom & John Van Reenen, 2002. "Patents, Real Options and Firm Performance," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 112(478), pages 97-116, March.
    34. Zucker, Lynne G & Darby, Michael R & Brewer, Marilynn B, 1998. "Intellectual Human Capital and the Birth of U.S. Biotechnology Enterprises," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(1), pages 290-306, March.
    35. Myers, Stewart C., 1977. "Determinants of corporate borrowing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(2), pages 147-175, November.
    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. Teplova, T. & Sokolova, T. & Teplov, A., 2017. "Intellectual Capital of Russian Companies as a Driver of Reducing the Cost of Debt," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, vol. 36(4), pages 107-134.
    2. Florian Ederer & Gustavo Manso, 2013. "Is Pay for Performance Detrimental to Innovation?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 59(7), pages 1496-1513, July.
    3. Guangchun Jin & Jian Xu, 2022. "Does Intellectual Capital Affect Financial Leverage of Chinese Agricultural Companies? Exploring the Role of Firm Profitability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-14, February.
    4. Jiang, Hongxun & Fan, Shaokun & Zhang, Nan & Zhu, Bin, 2023. "Deep learning for predicting patent application outcome: The fusion of text and network embeddings," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 17(2).
    5. Sunghun Chung & Animesh Animesh & Kunsoo Han & Alain Pinsonneault, 2019. "Software Patents and Firm Value: A Real Options Perspective on the Role of Innovation Orientation and Environmental Uncertainty," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 30(3), pages 1073-1097, September.
    6. Farhad Shahveisi & Farshid Khairollahi & Mohammad Alipour, 2017. "Does ownership structure matter for corporate intellectual capital performance? An empirical test in the Iranian context," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 7(1), pages 67-91, April.
    7. Trigeorgis, Lenos & Tsekrekos, Andrianos E., 2018. "Real Options in Operations Research: A Review," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 270(1), pages 1-24.
    8. Alimov, Azizjon, 2019. "Intellectual property rights reform and the cost of corporate debt," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 195-211.

    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. Antonczyk, Ron Christian & Salzmann, Astrid Juliane, 2014. "Overconfidence and optimism: The effect of national culture on capital structure," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 132-151.
    2. Wu, Xueping & Au Yeung, Chau Kin, 2012. "Firm growth type and capital structure persistence," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 3427-3443.
    3. Mai, Nhat Chi, 2012. "Market timing, taxes and capital structure: evidence from Vietnam," OSF Preprints t3mvs, Center for Open Science.
    4. Ebrahim, M. Shahid & Girma, Sourafel & Shah, M. Eskandar & Williams, Jonathan, 2014. "Dynamic capital structure and political patronage: The case of Malaysia," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 117-128.
    5. Dang, Viet Anh & Kim, Minjoo & Shin, Yongcheol, 2014. "Asymmetric adjustment toward optimal capital structure: Evidence from a crisis," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 226-242.
    6. Hang, Markus & Geyer-Klingeberg, Jerome & Rathgeber, Andreas W. & Stöckl, Stefan, 2018. "Measurement matters—A meta-study of the determinants of corporate capital structure," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 211-225.
    7. Dang, Viet Anh & Kim, Minjoo & Shin, Yongcheol, 2012. "Asymmetric capital structure adjustments: New evidence from dynamic panel threshold models," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 465-482.
    8. Bontempi, Maria Elena & Bottazzi, Laura & Golinelli, Roberto, 2020. "A multilevel index of heterogeneous short-term and long-term debt dynamics," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    9. Temimi, Akram & Zeitun, Rami & Mimouni, Karim, 2016. "How does the tax status of a country impact capital structure? Evidence from the GCC region," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 37, pages 71-89.
    10. Hanifa, Mohamed Hisham & Masih, Mansur & Bacha, Obiyathulla, 2014. "Testing Sukuk And Conventional Bond Offers Based On Corporate Financing Theories Using Partial Adjustment Models: Evidence From Malaysian Listed Firms," MPRA Paper 56953, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Yildirim, Ramazan & Masih, Mansur & Bacha, Obiyathulla Ismath, 2018. "Determinants of capital structure: evidence from Shari'ah compliant and non-compliant firms," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 198-219.
    12. Armen Hovakimian & Ayla Kayhan & Sheridan Titman, 2012. "Are Corporate Default Probabilities Consistent with the Static Trade-off Theory?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 25(2), pages 315-340.
    13. bag, DINABANDHU, 2013. "Market Leverage Of Real Estate Firms In India: Empirical Study," OSF Preprints 3d7v4, Center for Open Science.
    14. Li, Jay Y. & Mauer, David C., 2016. "Financing uncertain growth," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 241-261.
    15. Belkhir, Mohamed & Maghyereh, Aktham & Awartani, Basel, 2016. "Institutions and corporate capital structure in the MENA region," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 99-129.
    16. Gaud, Philippe & Hoesli, Martin & Bender, Andre, 2007. "Debt-equity choice in Europe," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 201-222.
    17. Drobetz, Wolfgang & Pensa, Pascal & Wöhle, Claudia B., 2004. "Kapitalstrukturtheorie in Theorie und Praxis: Ergebnisse einer Fragebogenuntersuchung," Working papers 2004/09, Faculty of Business and Economics - University of Basel.
    18. Sjur Westgaard & Amund Eidet & Stein Frydenberg & Thor Christian Grosås, 2008. "Investigating the Capital Structure of UK Real Estate Companies," Journal of Property Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(1), pages 61-87, August.
    19. Chen, Dar-Hsin & Chen, Chun-Da & Chen, Jianguo & Huang, Yu-Fang, 2013. "Panel data analyses of the pecking order theory and the market timing theory of capital structure in Taiwan," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 1-13.
    20. Mohamed, Hisham Hanifa & Masih, Mansur & Bacha, Obiyathulla I., 2015. "Why do issuers issue Sukuk or conventional bond? Evidence from Malaysian listed firms using partial adjustment models," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 233-252.

    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:inm:ormnsc:v:57:y:2011:i:10:p:1861-1878. 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: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.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.