IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0340913.html

The impact of banking uncertainty on firm investment: A look into intangible assets

Author

Listed:
  • Japan Huynh
  • Thi Minh Hue Phan

Abstract

This study examines the impact of banking uncertainty on intangible investments, in the context that there has been a growing body of literature addressing the ramifications of aggregate uncertainty on overall investment or physical investment. Based on data from 619 non-financial listed companies and 40 commercial banks in Vietnam between 2007 and 2022, we perform empirical regression analysis using the dynamic generalized method of moments (GMM) estimations since firms’ investment behavior is significantly persistent. We make our investigations more relevant and comprehensive by considering banking uncertainty in Vietnam’s bank-based market and delving into the underlying mechanisms through which banking uncertainty impacts corporate investments. Our findings reveal that firms tend to curtail their intangible asset investments in response to higher banking sector uncertainty, albeit the magnitude of the impact is economically weak. Differently, banking uncertainty substantially constrains investments in tangible fixed assets. We further provide evidence on financial conditions (captured by the cost of debt, financing constraints, and firms’ bank debt) as a driving force underlying the relationship between banking uncertainty and tangible assets, but not intangible investments. Our results remain robust after considering alternative variables, accounting for potential structural disruptions arising from crises, and addressing potential endogeneity concerns.

Suggested Citation

  • Japan Huynh & Thi Minh Hue Phan, 2026. "The impact of banking uncertainty on firm investment: A look into intangible assets," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 21(1), pages 1-21, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0340913
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0340913
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0340913
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0340913&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0340913?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. Pindyck, Robert S, 1988. "Irreversible Investment, Capacity Choice, and the Value of the Firm," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 78(5), pages 969-985, December.
    2. Chen, Xikai & Le, Cao Hoang Anh & Shan, Yaowen & Taylor, Stephen, 2020. "Australian policy uncertainty and corporate investment," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    3. Li, Kaifeng & Xia, Bobo & Chen, Yun & Ding, Ning & Wang, Jie, 2021. "Environmental uncertainty, financing constraints and corporate investment: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Mingjun Deng & Xusheng Fang & Ziyan Tian & Wenbing Luo, 2022. "The Impact of Environmental Uncertainty on Corporate Innovation: Evidence from Chinese Listed Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-19, April.
    2. Vo, Hong & Trinh, Quoc-Dat & Le, Minh & Nguyen, Thuy-Ngan, 2021. "Does economic policy uncertainty affect investment sensitivity to peer stock prices?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 685-699.
    3. Ömer Faruk TAN, 2023. "Is There Any Impact of the World Uncertainty Spillover Index (WUSI) on Firm Investment? Evidence from Turkey," Bingol University Journal of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Bingol University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, vol. 7(1), pages 97-108, June.
    4. Narayan, Paresh Kumar & Narayan, Seema & Tran, Vuong Thao & Thuraisamy, Kannan, 2021. "State-level politics: Do they influence corporate investment decisions?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    5. Japan Huynh, 2025. "Banking uncertainty and corporate financial constraints," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(1), pages 626-651, January.
    6. Klayme, Tania & Gokmenoglu, Korhan K. & Rustamov, Bezhan, 2023. "Economic policy uncertainty, COVID-19 and corporate investment: Evidence from the gold mining industry," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PA).
    7. Tianjiao Zhao & Xiang Xiao & Qinghui Dai, 2021. "Transportation Infrastructure Construction and High-Quality Development of Enterprises: Evidence from the Quasi-Natural Experiment of High-Speed Railway Opening in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-23, December.
    8. Jie Ning & Matthew J. Sobel, 2018. "Production and Capacity Management with Internal Financing," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 20(1), pages 147-160, February.
    9. Jaewon Jung, 2023. "Multinational Firms and Economic Integration: The Role of Global Uncertainty," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-18, February.
    10. Goodness C. Aye & Rangan Gupta, 2019. "Macroeconomic Uncertainty And The Comovement In Buying Versus Renting In The Usa," Advances in Decision Sciences, Asia University, Taiwan, vol. 23(3), pages 93-121, September.
    11. Agliardi, Rossella, 2006. "Options to expand: Some remarks," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 3(1), pages 65-72, March.
    12. Turnovsky, Stephen J. & Chattopadhyay, Pradip, 2003. "Volatility and growth in developing economies: some numerical results and empirical evidence," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(2), pages 267-295, March.
    13. Baker, Jessica & Carreras, Oriol & Kirby, Simon & Meaning, Jack & Piggott, Rebecca, 2016. "Modelling events: The short-term economic impact of leaving the EU," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 339-350.
    14. Wenbin Wang & Mark E. Ferguson & Shanshan Hu & Gilvan C. Souza, 2013. "Dynamic Capacity Investment with Two Competing Technologies," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 15(4), pages 616-629, October.
    15. Buu Kiem Dang & Duc Toan Vo & Nguyen Tuyet Minh Ha, 2025. "The impact of economic uncertainty and institutional quality on bank profitability: global evidence," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 1-29, July.
    16. Goldberg, Linda S & Kolstad, Charles D, 1995. "Foreign Direct Investment, Exchange Rate Variability and Demand Uncertainty," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 36(4), pages 855-873, November.
    17. Miao, Jianjun & Wang, Neng, 2007. "Investment, consumption, and hedging under incomplete markets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(3), pages 608-642, December.
    18. Ferguson, Andrew & Hu, Wei & Lam, Peter, 2022. "Political uncertainty and deal structure: Evidence from Australian mining project acquisitions," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    19. Tsekrekos, Andrianos E., 2010. "The effect of mean reversion on entry and exit decisions under uncertainty," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 725-742, April.
    20. Abadie, Luis M. & Chamorro, José M., 2008. "Valuing flexibility: The case of an Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle power plant," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 1850-1881, July.

    More about this item

    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:plo:pone00:0340913. 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: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    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.