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Overinvestment of Free Cash Flow and Manager’s Overconfidence

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  • EL Gaied Moez
  • Zgarni Amina

Abstract

The problem of over-investment of free cash flows has been heavily debated in the financial literature of companies. However, only a handful of studies have examined this problem in the context of behavioral finance. The objective of this article is to study the effect of the manager’s overconfidence on the over-investment of the free cash flows. We construct a proxy measure of overconfidence and we use Richardson’s model to measure over-investment expenditure. Our empirical study was conducted on a sample of 150 US companies and for a period from 1995 to 2012. Our results show a positive and significant relationship between over-investment and free cash flows. Also, we find the positive relationship is greater when managers are highly confident. The results generated by this study confirm that investment distortions are associated with behavioral attributes or biases.

Suggested Citation

  • EL Gaied Moez & Zgarni Amina, 2018. "Overinvestment of Free Cash Flow and Manager’s Overconfidence," International Business Research, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 11(3), pages 48-57, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:ibn:ibrjnl:v:11:y:2018:i:3:p:48-57
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Anwer S. Ahmed & Scott Duellman, 2013. "Managerial Overconfidence and Accounting Conservatism," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(1), pages 1-30, March.
    2. Ulrike Malmendier & Geoffrey Tate, 2005. "CEO Overconfidence and Corporate Investment," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(6), pages 2661-2700, December.
    3. John A. Doukas & Dimitris Petmezas, 2007. "Acquisitions, Overconfident Managers and Self‐attribution Bias," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 13(3), pages 531-577, June.
    4. Mueller, Dennis C. & Peev, Evgeni, 2007. "Corporate governance and investment in Central and Eastern Europe," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 414-437, June.
    5. Zhang, Dayong & Cao, Hong & Dickinson, David G. & Kutan, Ali M., 2016. "Free cash flows and overinvestment: Further evidence from Chinese energy firms," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 116-124.
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    Cited by:

    1. Chen, Shaoling & Gao, Qing & Peng, Qing & Yang, Haisheng, 2021. "Government-decentralized power: Measurement and effects," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    2. Nishwa Iqbal Dar & Syed Zulfiqar Ali Shah & Zeeshan Ahmed, 2021. "Behavioral Cost of Managerial Decisions Under Risk Perception and Culture: A Comparative Study Between the United States and Pakistan," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(3), pages 21582440211, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    over-investment; overconfidence; free cash flow; behavioral finance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R00 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General - - - General
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

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