IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/dsc/wpaper/3.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Managerial discretion and optimal financing policies with cash flow uncertainty

Author

Listed:
  • Alessandro Fiaschi

Abstract

Building on the work of Stulz (1990), this paper analyzes the impact of managerial discretion on optimal leverage within an agency cost model of corporate financing. Under the assumption that stockholders do not know with certainty the mean of the cash flow distribution, we argue that leverage fails to control for the amount of cash the manager can misappropriate in personal projects. We develop a model of a firm’s value maximization problem that predicts that as expected earnings uncertainty increases the firm will decrease its optimal level of borrowing. In a second part, we test this proposition on a panel of non–financial UK firms, by investigating the determinants of firms’ performance and allowing for endogeneity of capital structure decisions. The estimates confirm that earnings uncertainty, as measured by the volatility in monthly consensus forecasts of individual companies’ earnings per share, negatively affects corporate leverage. Furthermore, new empirical support is found to the agency cost view that corporate performance is positively correlated with leverage when poorly managed firms are selected.

Suggested Citation

  • Alessandro Fiaschi, 2009. "Managerial discretion and optimal financing policies with cash flow uncertainty," Working Papers 3, Doctoral School of Economics, Sapienza University of Rome.
    • Handle: RePEc:dsc:wpaper:3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://phdschool-economics.dse.uniroma1.it/website/workingpapers/fiaschiwp3.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:ebl:ecbull:v:5:y:2007:i:12:p:1-12 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Chittenden, Francis & Hall, Graham & Hutchinson, Patrick, 1996. "Small Firm Growth, Access to Capital Markets and Financial Structure: Review of Issues and an Empirical Investigation," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 59-67, February.
    3. Vlieghe, Gertjan & Stephen Bond & Alexander Klemm & Rain Newton-Smith & Murtaza Syed, 2003. "The roles of expected profitability, Tobin's Q and cash flow in econometric models of company investment," Royal Economic Society Annual Conference 2003 212, Royal Economic Society.
    4. Xin Chang & Sudipto Dasgupta & Gilles Hilary, 2006. "Analyst Coverage and Financing Decisions," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(6), pages 3009-3048, December.
    5. Barclay, Michael J. & Marx, Leslie M. & Smith, Clifford Jr., 2003. "The joint determination of leverage and maturity," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 149-167, March.
    6. Jason G. Cummins & Kevin A. Hassett & Stephen D. Oliner, 2006. "Investment Behavior, Observable Expectations, and Internal Funds," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(3), pages 796-810, June.
    7. Aydoğan Alti, 2006. "How Persistent Is the Impact of Market Timing on Capital Structure?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(4), pages 1681-1710, August.
    8. Blanchard, Olivier Jean & Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio & Shleifer, Andrei, 1994. "What do firms do with cash windfalls?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 337-360, December.
    9. Vivien Beattie & Alan Goodacre & Sarah Jane Thomson, 2006. "Corporate Financing Decisions: UK Survey Evidence," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(9‐10), pages 1402-1434, November.
    10. Heitor Almeida & Murillo Campello & Michael S. Weisbach, 2002. "Corporate Demand for Liquidity," NBER Working Papers 9253, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. repec:bla:jfinan:v:59:y:2004:i:4:p:1777-1804 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Abimbola Adedeji, 1997. ""Discussion of" Agency and Tax Explanations of Security Issuance Decisions," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(7&8), pages 963-969.
    13. Abimbola Adedeji, 1997. "Discussion of Agency and Tax Explanations of Security Issuance Decisions," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(7‐8), pages 963-969, September.
    14. Pablo de Andres Alonso & Felix J. Lopez Iturriaga & Juan A. Rodriguez Sanz, 2005. "Financial decisions and growth opportunities: a Spanish firm's panel data analysis," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(6), pages 391-407.
    15. A. A. Bevan & J. Danbolt, 2004. "Testing for inconsistencies in the estimation of UK capital structure determinants," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(1), pages 55-66.
    16. Franck Bancel & Usha R. Mittoo, 2004. "Cross-Country Determinants of Capital Structure Choice: A Survey of European Firms," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 33(4), Winter.
    17. Sudip Datta & Mai Iskandar‐Datta & Kartik Raman, 2005. "Managerial Stock Ownership and the Maturity Structure of Corporate Debt," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(5), pages 2333-2350, October.
    18. Bhushan, Ravi, 1989. "Firm characteristics and analyst following," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(2-3), pages 255-274, July.
    19. Bomberger, William A, 1996. "Disagreement as a Measure of Uncertainty," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 28(3), pages 381-392, August.
    20. Stephen R. Bond & Jason G. Cummins, 2004. "Uncertainty and investment: an empirical investigation using data on analysts' profits forecasts," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2004-20, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    21. Aggarwal, Raj & Zhao, Xinlei, 2007. "The leverage-value relationship puzzle: An industry effects resolution," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 59(4), pages 286-297.
    22. Vivien Beattie & Alan Goodacre & Sarah Jane Thomson, 2006. "Corporate Financing Decisions: UK Survey Evidence," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(9-10), pages 1402-1434.
    23. Gauri Bhat & Ole‐Kristian Hope & Tony Kang, 2006. "Does corporate governance transparency affect the accuracy of analyst forecasts?," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 46(5), pages 715-732, December.
    24. Alan Bevan & Jo Danbolt, 2002. "Capital structure and its determinants in the UK - a decompositional analysis," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(3), pages 159-170.
    25. Avramov, Doron & Chordia, Tarun & Jostova, Gergana & Philipov, Alexander, 2009. "Dispersion in analysts' earnings forecasts and credit rating," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(1), pages 83-101, January.
    26. Chung, Kee H. & Jo, Hoje, 1996. "The Impact of Security Analysts' Monitoring and Marketing Functions on the Market Value of Firms," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 31(4), pages 493-512, December.
    27. 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.
    28. Francisco Covas & Wouter den Haan, 2007. "Cyclical Behavior of Debt and Equity Using a Panel of Canadian Firms," Staff Working Papers 07-44, Bank of Canada.
    29. Michael J. Barclay & Clifford W. Smith & Ross L. Watts, 1995. "The Determinants Of Corporate Leverage And Dividend Policies," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 7(4), pages 4-19, January.
    30. Abe De Jong, 2002. "The Disciplining Role of Leverage in Dutch Firms," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 6(1), pages 31-62.
    31. Asquith, Paul & Mullins, David Jr., 1986. "Equity issues and offering dilution," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(1-2), pages 61-89.
    32. Michael J. Barclay & Clifford W. Smith, 1996. "On Financial Architecture: Leverage, Maturity, And Priority," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 8(4), pages 4-17, January.
    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. Shoaib Ali & Attiya Yasmin Javid, 2015. "Relationship between Credit Rating, Capital Structure and Earning Management Behaviour: Evidence from Pakistani Listed Firms," PIDE-Working Papers 2015:121, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics.
    2. Mai, Nhat Chi, 2012. "Market timing, taxes and capital structure: evidence from Vietnam," OSF Preprints t3mvs, Center for Open Science.
    3. Didier, Tatiana & Levine, Ross & Llovet Montanes, Ruth & Schmukler, Sergio L., 2021. "Capital market financing and firm growth," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    4. W. Allard Bruinshoofd & Leo de Haan, 2012. "Market timing and corporate capital structure: a transatlantic comparison," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(28), pages 3691-3703, October.
    5. Ran Lu-Andrews, 2017. "Tenant Quality and REIT Liquidity Management," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 54(3), pages 272-296, April.
    6. W. Allard Bruinshoofd & Leo de Haan, 2012. "Market timing and corporate capital structure: a transatlantic comparison," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(28), pages 3691-3703, October.
    7. LiuLing Liu, 2015. "Analyst coverage, syndicate structure, and loan contracts," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 5(1), pages 1-21, June.
    8. Pedro García-Teruel & Pedro Martínez-Solano, 2010. "Ownership structure and debt maturity: new evidence from Spain," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 35(4), pages 473-491, November.
    9. Valeriya Valer’evna Metel’skaya, 2021. "Correlation-and-regression analysis of the influence of macroeconomic factors on capital structure of Russian corporations under crisis conditions," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 1-34, December.
    10. A. A. Bevan & J. Danbolt, 2004. "Testing for inconsistencies in the estimation of UK capital structure determinants," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(1), pages 55-66.
    11. Rana El Bahsh & Ali Alattar & Aziz N. Yusuf, 2018. "Firm, Industry and Country Level Determinants of Capital Structure: Evidence from Jordan," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 8(2), pages 175-190.
    12. Rafael Garcia & António Cerqueira & Elísio Brandão, 2016. "Determinants of capital structure of firms: an analysis on the Euro Zone and the U.K," FEP Working Papers 584, Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia do Porto.
    13. Yu, Fang (Frank), 2008. "Analyst coverage and earnings management," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(2), pages 245-271, May.
    14. Hong, Jieying, 2019. "Managerial compensation incentives and corporate debt maturity: Evidence from FAS 123R," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 388-414.
    15. Li, Larry & Islam, Silvia Z., 2019. "Firm and industry specific determinants of capital structure: Evidence from the Australian market," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 425-437.
    16. Yousry Ahmed & Tamer Elshandidy, 2021. "Effect of leverage deviation on choices and outcomes of public versus non‐public acquisitions," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(3), pages 3436-3459, July.
    17. Barclay, Michael J. & Fu, Fangjian & Smith, Clifford W., 2021. "Seasoned equity offerings and corporate financial management," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    18. AVIRAL Kumar Tiwari & RAVEESH Krishnankutty, 2015. "Determinants Of Capital Structure: A Quantile Regression Analysis," Studies in Business and Economics, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Faculty of Economic Sciences, vol. 10(1), pages 16-34, April.
    19. Yomna Abdulla & Viet Anh Dang & Arif Khurshed, 2016. "Debt maturity and initial public offerings," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 47(4), pages 1129-1165, November.
    20. María Palacín-Sánchez & Luis Ramírez-Herrera & Filippo di Pietro, 2013. "Capital structure of SMEs in Spanish regions," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(2), pages 503-519, August.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D92 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Intertemporal Firm Choice, Investment, Capacity, and Financing
    • E22 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Investment; Capital; Intangible Capital; Capacity
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:dsc:wpaper:3. 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: Claudio Sardoni (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ferosit.html .

    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.