IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/empfin/v74y2023ics0927539823000932.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Leasing and the allocation efficiency of finance

Author

Listed:
  • Hu, Weiwei
  • Li, Kai
  • Xu, Yiming

Abstract

This paper argues that leasing, as an important but often ignored source of external financing, facilitates the allocation efficiency of finance. We document a large overestimation of measured finance misallocation (Whited and Zhao, 2021) when lease-induced debt is ignored among US manufacturing firms. The losses in real value-added due to finance misallocation drop from 25% to 19% after appropriately adjusting for lease. This amounts to a 6-percentage-point reduction in measured misallocation inefficiency. In the time-series, this inefficiency reduction from lease-adjustment exhibits a strong countercyclical pattern. In the cross-section, we find such reduction presents asymmetric patterns for firms with different size — it is more salient within small firms than in large firms. Leasing improves the allocation of finance by raising the total amount of finance as well as by alleviating inefficient debt-equity combinations across firms. Finally, we find that factoring in lease-induced debt lowers both the level and dispersion of finance costs, consistent with the mitigation effect of lease-adjustment on finance allocation efficiency.

Suggested Citation

  • Hu, Weiwei & Li, Kai & Xu, Yiming, 2023. "Leasing and the allocation efficiency of finance," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:empfin:v:74:y:2023:i:c:s0927539823000932
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jempfin.2023.101426
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927539823000932
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jempfin.2023.101426?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. Andrea Lanteri, 2018. "The Market for Used Capital: Endogenous Irreversibility and Reallocation over the Business Cycle," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(9), pages 2383-2419, September.
    2. Alessandro Gavazza, 2011. "Leasing and Secondary Markets: Theory and Evidence from Commercial Aircraft," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 119(2), pages 325-377.
    3. Markus K. Brunnermeier & Yuliy Sannikov, 2014. "A Macroeconomic Model with a Financial Sector," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(2), pages 379-421, February.
    4. Rui Albuquerque & Hugo A. Hopenhayn, 2004. "Optimal Lending Contracts and Firm Dynamics," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 71(2), pages 285-315.
    5. Gita Gopinath & Şebnem Kalemli-Özcan & Loukas Karabarbounis & Carolina Villegas-Sanchez, 2017. "Capital Allocation and Productivity in South Europe," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 132(4), pages 1915-1967.
    6. Miller, Merton H & Upton, Charles W, 1976. "Leasing, Buying, and the Cost of Capital Services," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 31(3), pages 761-786, June.
    7. Igal Hendel & Aviv Nevo, 2006. "Measuring the Implications of Sales and Consumer Inventory Behavior," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 74(6), pages 1637-1673, November.
    8. Andrea L. Eisfeldt & Yu Shi, 2018. "Capital Reallocation," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 10(1), pages 361-386, November.
    9. Zhiguo He & Arvind Krishnamurthy, 2013. "Intermediary Asset Pricing," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(2), pages 732-770, April.
    10. Christian Broda & David E. Weinstein, 2006. "Globalization and the Gains From Variety," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 121(2), pages 541-585.
    11. Ai, Hengjie & Li, Kai & Yang, Fang, 2020. "Financial intermediation and capital reallocation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(3), pages 663-686.
    12. Diego Restuccia & Richard Rogerson, 2017. "The Causes and Costs of Misallocation," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 31(3), pages 151-174, Summer.
    13. Christopher A. Hennessy & Toni M. Whited, 2007. "How Costly Is External Financing? Evidence from a Structural Estimation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 62(4), pages 1705-1745, August.
    14. Fuchs, William & Green, Brett & Papanikolaou, Dimitris, 2016. "Adverse selection, slow-moving capital, and misallocation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(2), pages 286-308.
    15. Rampini, Adriano A. & Viswanathan, S., 2013. "Collateral and capital structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(2), pages 466-492.
    16. Vadim Elenev & Tim Landvoigt & Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh, 2021. "A Macroeconomic Model With Financially Constrained Producers and Intermediaries," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 89(3), pages 1361-1418, May.
    17. Benjamin Moll, 2014. "Productivity Losses from Financial Frictions: Can Self-Financing Undo Capital Misallocation?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(10), pages 3186-3221, October.
    18. Markus K. Brunnermeier & Thomas M. Eisenbach & Yuliy Sannikov, 2012. "Macroeconomics with Financial Frictions: A Survey," Levine's Working Paper Archive 786969000000000384, David K. Levine.
    19. Joel M. David & Hugo A. Hopenhayn & Venky Venkateswaran, 2016. "Information, Misallocation, and Aggregate Productivity," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 131(2), pages 943-1005.
    20. Tiago Cavalcanti & Bruno Martins & Cezar Santos & Joseph Kaboski, 2018. "Dispersion in Financing Costs and Development," 2018 Meeting Papers 426, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    21. John R. Graham & Michael L. Lemmon & James S. Schallheim, 1998. "Debt, Leases, Taxes, and the Endogeneity of Corporate Tax Status," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 53(1), pages 131-162, February.
    22. Ram Yamarthy & Amir Yaron & Joao Gomes, 2015. "Carlstrom and Fuerst meets Epstein and Zin: The Asset Pricing Implications of Contracting Frictions," 2015 Meeting Papers 1267, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    23. Vincenzo Quadrini, 2011. "Financial frictions in macroeconomic fluctations," Economic Quarterly, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, vol. 97(3Q), pages 209-254.
    24. Francisco J. Buera & Benjamin Moll, 2015. "Aggregate Implications of a Credit Crunch: The Importance of Heterogeneity," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 7(3), pages 1-42, July.
    25. Schallheim, James & Wells, Kyle & Whitby, Ryan J., 2013. "Do leases expand debt capacity?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 368-381.
    26. Bils, Mark & Klenow, Peter J. & Ruane, Cian, 2021. "Misallocation or Mismeasurement?," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(S), pages 39-56.
    27. Chang-Tai Hsieh & Peter J. Klenow, 2009. "Misallocation and Manufacturing TFP in China and India," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(4), pages 1403-1448.
    28. Gertler, Mark & Kiyotaki, Nobuhiro, 2010. "Financial Intermediation and Credit Policy in Business Cycle Analysis," Handbook of Monetary Economics, in: Benjamin M. Friedman & Michael Woodford (ed.), Handbook of Monetary Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 11, pages 547-599, Elsevier.
    29. Chris Edmond & Virgiliu Midrigan & Daniel Yi Xu, 2018. "How Costly Are Markups?," NBER Working Papers 24800, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    30. Hugo A. Hopenhayn, 2014. "Firms, Misallocation, and Aggregate Productivity: A Review," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 6(1), pages 735-770, August.
    31. Andrea L. Eisfeldt & Adriano A. Rampini, 2009. "Leasing, Ability to Repossess, and Debt Capacity," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(4), pages 1621-1657, April.
    32. Joel M. David & Venky Venkateswaran, 2019. "The Sources of Capital Misallocation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(7), pages 2531-2567, July.
    33. Chen, Kaiji & Song, Zheng, 2013. "Financial frictions on capital allocation: A transmission mechanism of TFP fluctuations," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(6), pages 683-703.
    34. Virgiliu Midrigan & Daniel Yi Xu, 2014. "Finance and Misallocation: Evidence from Plant-Level Data," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(2), pages 422-458, February.
    35. Hengjie Ai & Jun E Li & Kai Li & Christian Schlag, 2020. "The Collateralizability Premium," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 33(12), pages 5821-5855.
    36. Francisco J. Buera & Joseph P. Kaboski & Yongseok Shin, 2011. "Finance and Development: A Tale of Two Sectors," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(5), pages 1964-2002, August.
    37. Shaojin Li & Toni M. Whited & Yufeng Wu, 2016. "Collateral, Taxes, and Leverage," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 29(6), pages 1453-1500.
    38. repec:fip:fedreq:y:2011:i:3q:p:209-254:n:vol.97no.3 is not listed on IDEAS
    39. Marc J. Melitz, 2003. "The Impact of Trade on Intra-Industry Reallocations and Aggregate Industry Productivity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 71(6), pages 1695-1725, November.
    40. John Haltiwanger & Robert Kulick & Chad Syverson, 2018. "Misallocation Measures: The Distortion That Ate the Residual," NBER Working Papers 24199, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    41. Dong, Feng & Wang, Pengfei & Wen, Yi, 2020. "A search-based neoclassical model of capital reallocation," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    42. Eisfeldt, Andrea L. & Rampini, Adriano A., 2008. "Managerial incentives, capital reallocation, and the business cycle," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 177-199, January.
    43. Eisfeldt, Andrea L. & Rampini, Adriano A., 2007. "New or used? Investment with credit constraints," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(8), pages 2656-2681, November.
    44. David, Joel M. & Schmid, Lukas & Zeke, David, 2022. "Risk-adjusted capital allocation and misallocation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(3), pages 684-705.
    45. 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.
    46. Lim, Steve C. & Mann, Steven C. & Mihov, Vassil T., 2017. "Do operating leases expand credit capacity? Evidence from borrowing costs and credit ratings," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 100-114.
    47. Peter N. Gal & Gabor Pinter, 2017. "Capital over the Business Cycle: Renting versus Ownership," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 49(6), pages 1299-1338, September.
    48. Pablo Kurlat, 2013. "Lemons Markets and the Transmission of Aggregate Shocks," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(4), pages 1463-1489, June.
    49. Yan, An, 2006. "Leasing and Debt Financing: Substitutes or Complements?," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 41(3), pages 709-731, September.
    50. Eisfeldt, Andrea L. & Rampini, Adriano A., 2006. "Capital reallocation and liquidity," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(3), pages 369-399, April.
    51. Graham, Roger C. & Lin, K.C., 2018. "How will the new lease accounting standard affect the relevance of lease asset accounting?," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 83-95.
    52. John Asker & Allan Collard-Wexler & Jan De Loecker, 2014. "Dynamic Inputs and Resource (Mis)Allocation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 122(5), pages 1013-1063.
    53. Francisco Covas & Wouter J. Den Haan, 2011. "The Cyclical Behavior of Debt and Equity Finance," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(2), pages 877-899, April.
    54. Yongqiang Chu, 2020. "Collateral, Ease of Repossession, and Leases: Evidence from Antirecharacterization Laws," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(7), pages 2951-2974, July.
    55. Toni M. Whited & Jake Zhao, 2021. "The Misallocation of Finance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 76(5), pages 2359-2407, October.
    56. Nikolov, Boris & Schmid, Lukas & Steri, Roberto, 2021. "The Sources of Financing Constraints," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(2), pages 478-501.
    57. Myers, Stewart C & Dill, David A & Bautista, Alberto J, 1976. "Valuation of Financial Lease Contracts," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 31(3), pages 799-819, June.
    58. Lewis, Craig M. & Schallheim, James S., 1992. "Are Debt and Leases Substitutes?," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 27(4), pages 497-511, December.
    59. Michael Peters, 2020. "Heterogeneous Markups, Growth, and Endogenous Misallocation," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 88(5), pages 2037-2073, September.
    60. Smith, Clifford W, Jr & Wakeman, L MacDonald, 1985. "Determinants of Corporate Leasing Policy," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 40(3), pages 895-908, July.
    61. Andrea L. Eisfeldt & Yu Shi, 2018. "Capital Reallocation," NBER Working Papers 25085, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    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. Ai, Hengjie & Li, Kai & Yang, Fang, 2020. "Financial intermediation and capital reallocation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(3), pages 663-686.
    2. David, Joel M. & Schmid, Lukas & Zeke, David, 2022. "Risk-adjusted capital allocation and misallocation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(3), pages 684-705.
    3. Andrea L. Eisfeldt & Yu Shi, 2018. "Capital Reallocation," NBER Working Papers 25085, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Simone Lenzu & Francesco Manaresi, 2019. "Sources and implications of resource misallocation: new evidence from firm-level marginal products and user costs," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 485, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    5. Matthias Kehrig & Nicolas Vincent, 2017. "Do Firms Mitigate or Magnify Capital Misallocation? Evidence from Planet-Level Data," CESifo Working Paper Series 6401, CESifo.
    6. Shen, Junyan, 2023. "Capital misallocation and financial market frictions: Empirical evidence from equity cost of capital," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 486-504.
    7. Gondhi, Naveen, 2023. "Rational inattention, misallocation, and the aggregate economy," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 50-75.
    8. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/5e3g19l1fn9thpq7ldd8kqr3vu is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Sylvain Catherine & Thomas Chaney & Zongbo Huang & David Sraer & David Thesmar, 2022. "Quantifying Reduced‐Form Evidence on Collateral Constraints," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 77(4), pages 2143-2181, August.
    10. van der Geest, Jesse, 2024. "Economic effects of tax avoidance and compliance," Other publications TiSEM aaca33bf-975d-4e21-9b5f-5, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    11. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/5e3g19l1fn9thpq7ldd8kqr3vu is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Alam, M. Jahangir, 2020. "Capital misallocation: Cyclicality and sources," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    13. Bento, Pedro & Restuccia, Diego, 2021. "On average establishment size across sectors and countries," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 220-242.
    14. Diego Restuccia & Richard Rogerson, 2017. "The Causes and Costs of Misallocation," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 31(3), pages 151-174, Summer.
    15. Pellegrino, Bruno & Zheng, Geoffery, 2024. "Quantifying the impact of red tape on investment: A survey data approach," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    16. Deng, Jiapin & Liu, Qiao, 2024. "Good finance, bad finance, and resource misallocation: Evidence from China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    17. Toni M. Whited & Jake Zhao, 2021. "The Misallocation of Finance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 76(5), pages 2359-2407, October.
    18. Andrea Lanteri & Adriano A. Rampini, 2023. "Constrained-Efficient Capital Reallocation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 113(2), pages 354-395, February.
    19. Francesco Manaresi & Mr. Nicola Pierri, 2019. "Credit Supply and Productivity Growth," IMF Working Papers 2019/107, International Monetary Fund.
    20. Lim, Steve C. & Mann, Steven C. & Mihov, Vassil T., 2017. "Do operating leases expand credit capacity? Evidence from borrowing costs and credit ratings," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 100-114.
    21. Cun, Wukuang, 2022. "Endogenous lemons markets and information cycles," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    22. Yongqiang Chu, 2020. "Collateral, Ease of Repossession, and Leases: Evidence from Antirecharacterization Laws," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(7), pages 2951-2974, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Operating lease; Lease-induced debt; External financing; Misallocation of finance; Financial constraint;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E22 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Investment; Capital; Intangible Capital; Capacity
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G35 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Payout Policy

    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:empfin:v:74:y:2023:i:c:s0927539823000932. 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/jempfin .

    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.