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Financial Pressure and Balance Sheet Adjustment by Firms

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  • Andrew Benito
  • Garry Young

Abstract

This paper examines the financial policies and balance sheet adjustment of companies. Using a large panel of UK‐listed firms we consider how companies resolve pressures on their balance sheet, estimating models for dividends, new equity issuance and investment. The results indicate that companies resolve balance sheet pressures by each of these means. Financial policies, through dividends and new equity issuance, and real investment decisions, respond to the underlying level of debt and the borrowing cost of servicing that debt. Dividends are estimated to be slow to adjust in the short run.

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  • Andrew Benito & Garry Young, 2007. "Financial Pressure and Balance Sheet Adjustment by Firms," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 69(5), pages 581-602, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:obuest:v:69:y:2007:i:5:p:581-602
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-0084.2007.00469.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Hernando, Ignacio & Martínez-Carrascal, Carmen, 2008. "The impact of financial variables on firms' real decisions: Evidence from Spanish firm-level data," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 543-561, March.
    2. Andrew Benito, 2003. "The incidence and persistence of dividend omissions by Spanish firms," Working Papers 0303, Banco de España.
    3. Alessandra Guariglia & Marina-Eliza Spaliara & Serafeim Tsoukas, 2016. "To What Extent Does the Interest Burden Affect Firm Survival? Evidence from a Panel of UK Firms during the Recent Financial Crisis," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 78(4), pages 576-594, August.
    4. Galindo, Arturo & Izquierdo, Alejandro & Montero, Jose Manuel, 2007. "Real exchange rates, dollarization and industrial employment in Latin America," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 8(4), pages 284-298, December.
    5. Peter Gibbard & Ibrahim Stevens, 2011. "Corporate debt and financial balance sheet adjustment: a comparison of the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Germany," Annals of Finance, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 95-118, February.
    6. von Kalckreuth, Ulf & Jorg Breitung & Robert S Chirinko, 2003. "A Vectorautoregressive Investment Model (VIM) and Monetary Policy Transmission: Panel Evidence from German Firms," Royal Economic Society Annual Conference 2003 213, Royal Economic Society.
    7. Richard Disney & Helen Miller & Thomas Pope, 2018. "Firm-level investment spikes and aggregate investment over the Great Recession," IFS Working Papers W18/03, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    8. Hongfei Zhu, 2009. "The Relationship Between Investment and Fund Raising: An Empirical study to Japanese Manufacturing Firms," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 29(1), pages 357-367.
    9. Nehrebecki Marian, 2020. "Cash flow sensitivity of investment: Evidence from the Polish listed companies," Central European Economic Journal, Sciendo, vol. 7(54), pages 157-171, January.
    10. Andrew Benito, 2002. "Financial pressure, monetary policy effects and inventory adjustment by UK and Spanish firms," Working Papers 0226, Banco de España.
    11. Andrew Benito & Garry Young, 2007. "Financial Pressure and Balance Sheet Adjustment by Firms," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 69(5), pages 581-602, October.
    12. Görg, Holger & Spaliara, Marina-Eliza, 2013. "Export market exit, financial pressure and the crisis," CEPR Discussion Papers 9599, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    13. Marie Diron & Maria Cruz Manzano & Thomas Westermann, 2005. "Forecasting aggregate investment in the euro area: do indicators of financial conditions help?," BIS Papers chapters, in: Bank for International Settlements (ed.), Investigating the relationship between the financial and real economy, volume 22, pages 206-27, Bank for International Settlements.
    14. Andrew Benito, 2017. "How does monetary policy affect labor demand and labor productivity?," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 340-340, July.
    15. Douglas Sutherland & Peter Hoeller, 2012. "Debt and Macroeconomic Stability: An Overview of the Literature and Some Empirics," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1006, OECD Publishing.
    16. Andrew Benito & Ignacio Hernando, 2002. "Extricate: Financial Pressure and Firm Behaviour in Spain," Working Papers 0227, Banco de España.
    17. Bunn, Philip & Smietanka, Pawel & Mizen, Paul, 2018. "Growing pension deficits and the expenditure decisions of UK companies," Bank of England working papers 714, Bank of England.
    18. Andrew Benito & John Whitley, 2003. "Implicit interest rates and corporate balance sheets: an analysis using aggregate and disaggregated UK data," Bank of England working papers 193, Bank of England.
    19. Philip Bunn & Garry Young, 2004. "Corporate capital structure in the United Kingdom: determinants and adjustment," Bank of England working papers 226, Bank of England.
    20. Philip Bunn & Kamakshya Trivedi, 2005. "Corporate expenditures and pension contributions: evidence from UK company accounts," Bank of England working papers 276, Bank of England.
    21. Axel A Weber & Rafael Gerke & Andreas Worms, 2009. "Has the monetary transmission process in the euro area changed? Evidence vased on VAR estimates," BIS Working Papers 276, Bank for International Settlements.
    22. Andrew Benito, 2003. "The capital structure decisions of firms: is there a pecking order?," Working Papers 0310, Banco de España.
    23. Alberto Jaramillo & Hermilson Velásquez & Javier Santiago Ortiz & Natalia Serna, 2003. "Aspectos teóricos y empíricos de la relación empresas bancos," Documentos de Trabajo de Valor Público 3922, Universidad EAFIT.
    24. Mr. Albert Jaeger, 2003. "Corporate Balance Sheet Restructuring and Investment in the Euro Area," IMF Working Papers 2003/117, International Monetary Fund.
    25. Ulf Von Kalckreuth, 2006. "Financial Constraints and Capacity Adjustment: Evidence from a Large Panel of Survey Data," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 73(292), pages 691-724, November.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G35 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Payout Policy
    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy

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