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Does geopolitical risk matter for corporate investment? Evidence from emerging countries in Asia

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  • Le, Anh-Tuan
  • Tran, Thao Phuong

Abstract

This paper examines the effect of geopolitical risk on corporate investment in emerging Asian countries. Using an extensive sample spanning 1995–2018, we find that geopolitical risk is negatively associated with corporate investment. Geopolitical risks in China and Russia have a greater impact on corporate investment, while a less significant influence is found in India and Turkey. Our findings are robust to using alternative measures of geopolitical risk, using alternative proxies of investment, even after controlling for endogeneity concerns by a two-stage least square estimation, a system generalized method of moments regression, and the incremental effect of geopolitical risk. The adverse impact of geopolitical risk on firm investment is more pronounced for firms with a higher degree of investment irreversibility. However, firms with greater cash holdings can better mitigate this negative impact. Overall, this paper shows that geopolitical risk is a crucial macrolevel shock influencing corporate investment.

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  • Le, Anh-Tuan & Tran, Thao Phuong, 2021. "Does geopolitical risk matter for corporate investment? Evidence from emerging countries in Asia," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:mulfin:v:62:y:2021:i:c:s1042444x2100027x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.mulfin.2021.100703
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Geopolitical risk; Corporate investment; Cash holdings; Investment irreversibility;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • E22 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Investment; Capital; Intangible Capital; Capacity
    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty

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