IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/corfin/v33y2015icp147-163.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Financing hierarchy: Evidence from quantile regression

Author

Listed:
  • Chay, J.B.
  • Park, Soon Hong
  • Kim, Soojung
  • Suh, Jungwon

Abstract

This study uses the quantile regression method to determine the relative importance of internal and external sources of funds in financing corporate investments across different levels of investment activities. Our findings lend support to the first (internal–external) rung of the pecking order, as investments are more responsive to internal funds than to external funds at almost all investment levels except at top investment levels. However, empirical support for the second (debt–equity) rung of the pecking order is tenuous, as investments are more responsive to equity issuance than to debt issuance at low and medium investment levels. Intriguingly, firms rely primarily on internal funds for organic growth (via capital expenditures or R&D spending), whereas they use debt capital heavily in financing acquisition-led growth. Finally, firms at high investment levels hold large cash holdings and save a significantly large fraction of equity issue proceeds as cash.

Suggested Citation

  • Chay, J.B. & Park, Soon Hong & Kim, Soojung & Suh, Jungwon, 2015. "Financing hierarchy: Evidence from quantile regression," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 147-163.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:corfin:v:33:y:2015:i:c:p:147-163
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2015.06.004
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0929119915000723
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2015.06.004?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. Gilchrist, Simon & Himmelberg, Charles P., 1995. "Evidence on the role of cash flow for investment," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 541-572, December.
    2. He X. & Hu F., 2002. "Markov Chain Marginal Bootstrap," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 97, pages 783-795, September.
    3. Lemmon, Michael L. & Zender, Jaime F., 2010. "Debt Capacity and Tests of Capital Structure Theories," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 45(5), pages 1161-1187, October.
    4. Ulrike Malmendier & Geoffrey Tate, 2005. "CEO Overconfidence and Corporate Investment," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(6), pages 2661-2700, December.
    5. Dasgupta, Sudipto & Noe, Thomas H. & Wang, Zhen, 2011. "Where Did All the Dollars Go? The Effect of Cash Flows on Capital and Asset Structure," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 46(5), pages 1259-1294, October.
    6. Sean Cleary, 1999. "The Relationship between Firm Investment and Financial Status," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(2), pages 673-692, April.
    7. Cleary, Sean & Povel, Paul & Raith, Michael, 2007. "The U-Shaped Investment Curve: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 42(1), pages 1-39, March.
    8. Martynova, Marina & Renneboog, Luc, 2009. "What determines the financing decision in corporate takeovers: Cost of capital, agency problems, or the means of payment?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 15(3), pages 290-315, June.
    9. Koenker, Roger, 2004. "Quantile regression for longitudinal data," Journal of Multivariate Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 91(1), pages 74-89, October.
    10. Ralf Elsas & Mark J. Flannery & Jon A. Garfinkel, 2014. "Financing Major Investments: Information about Capital Structure Decisions," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 18(4), pages 1341-1386.
    11. Leary, Mark T. & Roberts, Michael R., 2010. "The pecking order, debt capacity, and information asymmetry," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(3), pages 332-355, March.
    12. Stewart C. Myers, 1993. "Still Searching For Optimal Capital Structure," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 6(1), pages 4-14, March.
    13. James R. Brown & Steven M. Fazzari & Bruce C. Petersen, 2009. "Financing Innovation and Growth: Cash Flow, External Equity, and the 1990s R&D Boom," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(1), pages 151-185, February.
    14. 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.
    15. Vladimir A. Gatchev & Todd Pulvino & Vefa Tarhan, 2010. "The Interdependent and Intertemporal Nature of Financial Decisions: An Application to Cash Flow Sensitivities," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(2), pages 725-763, April.
    16. 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.
    17. Harford, Jarrad & Klasa, Sandy & Walcott, Nathan, 2009. "Do firms have leverage targets? Evidence from acquisitions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(1), pages 1-14, July.
    18. Myers, Stewart C., 1984. "Capital structure puzzle," Working papers 1548-84., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management.
    19. Roger Koenker & Kevin F. Hallock, 2001. "Quantile Regression," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 15(4), pages 143-156, Fall.
    20. Myers, Stewart C, 1984. "The Capital Structure Puzzle," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 39(3), pages 575-592, July.
    21. Aydoḡan Alti, 2003. "How Sensitive Is Investment to Cash Flow When Financing Is Frictionless?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(2), pages 707-722, April.
    22. Allayannis, George & Mozumdar, Abon, 2004. "The impact of negative cash flow and influential observations on investment-cash flow sensitivity estimates," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(5), pages 901-930, May.
    23. Stewart C. Myers, 1984. "Capital Structure Puzzle," NBER Working Papers 1393, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    24. Hovakimian, Armen & Hovakimian, Gayane & Tehranian, Hassan, 2004. "Determinants of target capital structure: The case of dual debt and equity issues," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(3), pages 517-540, March.
    25. 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.
    26. J B Heaton, 2002. "Managerial Optimism and Corporate Finance," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 31(2), Summer.
    27. Galvao Jr., Antonio F., 2011. "Quantile regression for dynamic panel data with fixed effects," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 164(1), pages 142-157, September.
    28. repec:bla:jfinan:v:59:y:2004:i:4:p:1777-1804 is not listed on IDEAS
    29. Frank, Murray Z. & Goyal, Vidhan K., 2003. "Testing the pecking order theory of capital structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 217-248, February.
    30. David McLean, R., 2011. "Share issuance and cash savings," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(3), pages 693-715, March.
    31. Schlingemann, Frederik P., 2004. "Financing decisions and bidder gains," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 10(5), pages 683-701, November.
    32. Myers, Stewart C., 2003. "Financing of corporations," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, in: G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Finance, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 4, pages 215-253, Elsevier.
    33. Malcolm Baker & Jeffrey Wurgler, 2002. "Market Timing and Capital Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(1), pages 1-32, February.
    34. Gatchev, Vladimir A. & Spindt, Paul A. & Tarhan, Vefa, 2009. "How do firms finance their investments?: The relative importance of equity issuance and debt contracting costs," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 179-195, April.
    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. Fattouh, Bassam & Pisicoli, Beniamino & Scaramozzino, Pasquale, 2024. "Debt and financial fragility: Italian non-financial companies after the pandemic," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    2. Elyasiani, Elyas & Movaghari, Hadi, 2022. "Determinants of corporate cash holdings: An application of a robust variable selection technique," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 967-993.
    3. Mathias Lé & Frédéric Vinas, 2020. "The Financing of Investment: Firm Size, Asset Tangibility and the Size of Investment," Working papers 777, Banque de France.
    4. Park, Jin, 2019. "Financial constraints and the cash flow sensitivities of external financing: Evidence from Korea," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 241-250.
    5. Zongwu Cai & Meng Shi & Yue Zhao & Wuqing Wu, 2020. "Testing Financial Hierarchy Based on A PDQ-CRE Model," WORKING PAPERS SERIES IN THEORETICAL AND APPLIED ECONOMICS 202011, University of Kansas, Department of Economics, revised Jul 2020.
    6. Linsheng Chen & Siew Hoon Lim & Shiwei Xu & Ying Liu, 2022. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Innovation Input: An Empirical Study Based on Propensity Score-Matching and Quantile Models," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-16, December.
    7. Kai Tang & Qianbo Chen & Weijie Tan & Yi Jun Wu Feng, 2022. "The Impact of Financial Deepening on Carbon Reductions in China: Evidence from City- and Enterprise-Level Data," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-15, September.
    8. Raffaele Miniaci & Paolo Panteghini, 2021. "On the Capital Structure of Foreign Subsidiaries: Evidence from a Panel Data Quantile Regression Model," CESifo Working Paper Series 9085, CESifo.
    9. Liu, Duan & Li, Zhiyuan & He, Hongbo & Hou, Wenxuan, 2021. "The determinants of R&D smoothing with asset sales: Evidence from R&D-intensive firms in China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 76-93.
    10. Banerjee, Pradip, 2022. "Nature of financial constraints and R&D intensity," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    11. Edward Jones & Hao Li & Oluwagbenga Adamolekun, 2022. "Excess Cash Holdings, Stock Returns, and Investment Organicity: Evidence from UK Investment Announcements," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 58(4), pages 603-647, December.
    12. Doucet, Pablo & Requejo, Ignacio, 2022. "Financing constraints and growth of private family firms: Evidence from different legal origins," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).

    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. Heejung Choi & Jungwon Suh, 2017. "Investment financing: evidence from Korea," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 57, pages 147-184, April.
    2. Drobetz, Wolfgang & Haller, Rebekka & Meier, Iwan & Tarhan, Vefa, 2017. "The impact of liquidity crises on cash flow sensitivities," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 225-239.
    3. Didier Brandao,Tatiana & Levine,Ross Eric & Schmukler,Sergio L., 2015. "Capital market financing, firm growth, and firm size distribution," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7353, The World Bank.
    4. Didier Brandao,Tatiana & Levine,Ross Eric & Schmukler,Sergio L., 2015. "Capital market financing, firm growth, and firm size distribution," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7353, The World Bank.
    5. Abdul Rashid & Noshaba Jabeen, 2018. "Financial frictions and the cash flow – external financing sensitivity: evidence from a panel of Pakistani firms," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 4(1), pages 1-20, December.
    6. Zongwu Cai & Meng Shi & Yue Zhao & Wuqing Wu, 2020. "Testing Financial Hierarchy Based on A PDQ-CRE Model," WORKING PAPERS SERIES IN THEORETICAL AND APPLIED ECONOMICS 202011, University of Kansas, Department of Economics, revised Jul 2020.
    7. Mai, Nhat Chi, 2012. "Market timing, taxes and capital structure: evidence from Vietnam," OSF Preprints t3mvs, Center for Open Science.
    8. Karampatsas, Nikolaos & Petmezas, Dimitris & Travlos, Nickolaos G., 2014. "Credit ratings and the choice of payment method in mergers and acquisitions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 474-493.
    9. Harshana Kasseeah, 2012. "Financial Constraints and Leverage Decisions in Small and Medium-Sized Firms," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 4(1), pages 55-65.
    10. Cai, Jie & Zhang, Zhe, 2011. "Leverage change, debt overhang, and stock prices," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 391-402, June.
    11. Carmen Cotei & Joseph Farhat, 2011. "An application of the two-stage Bivariate Probit–Tobit model to corporate financing decisions," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 37(3), pages 363-380, October.
    12. Djaoudath Alidou, 2012. "Employees Equity Issue and Asymmetric Information:Evidence from France - Augmentations de capital réservées aux salariés et Asymétrie d’information:Cas de la France," Working Papers CREGO 1120901, Université de Bourgogne - CREGO EA7317 Centre de recherches en gestion des organisations.
    13. Pinnuck, Matt & Shekhar, Chander, 2013. "The profit versus loss heuristic and firm financing decisions," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 38(6), pages 420-439.
    14. Soon Suk Yoon & Hyo Jin Kim & Hongbok Lee & Doug Waggle, 2017. "Financing preferences: evidence from the Korean market," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(44), pages 4501-4520, September.
    15. Emmanuel Adu‐Ameyaw & Albert Danso & Moshfique Uddin & Samuel Acheampong, 2024. "Investment‐cash flow sensitivity: Evidence from investment in identifiable intangible and tangible assets activities," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(2), pages 1179-1204, April.
    16. Dongyang Zhang, 2017. "Is working capital management value-enhancing through alleviating financial constraints? Evidence from Chinese non-listed firms," Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(4), pages 373-406, October.
    17. Andrew Vivian & Bin Xu, 2018. "Time-varying managerial overconfidence and pecking order preference," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 50(3), pages 799-835, April.
    18. Xin Qu & Majella Percy & Fang Hu & Jenny Stewart, 2022. "Can CEO equity‐based compensation limit investment‐related agency problems?," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(2), pages 2579-2614, June.
    19. Gaurav Gupta & Jitendra Mahakud, 2019. "Alternative measure of financial development and investment-cash flow sensitivity: evidence from an emerging economy," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 5(1), pages 1-28, December.
    20. Surenderrao Komera & Jijo Lukose P.J., 2015. "Capital structure choice, information asymmetry, and debt capacity: evidence from India," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 39(4), pages 807-823, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Corporate investments; Quantile regression; Internal funds; External funds; Pecking order;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G31 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Capital Budgeting; Fixed Investment and Inventory Studies
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill

    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:corfin:v:33:y:2015:i:c:p:147-163. 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/jcorpfin .

    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.