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Financial Frictions, Investment and Tobin's q

Author

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  • Guido Lorenzoni
  • Karl Walentin

    (Research Division Sveriges Riksbank (Bank of Sweden))

Abstract

We develop a model of investment with financial constraints and use it to investigate the relation between investment and Tobin’s q. A firm is financed partly by insiders, who control its assets, and partly by outside investors. When insiders’ wealth is scarce, they earn a rate of return higher than the market rate of return, i.e. insiders earn a quasi-rent on invested capital. This rent is priced into the value of the firm, so Tobin’s q is driven by two forces: changes in the value of invested capital, and changes in the value of the insiders’ future rents. The second effect weakens the correlation between q and investment. We calibrate the model and show that, thanks to this effect, the model can generate realistic correlations between investment, q and cash flow

Suggested Citation

  • Guido Lorenzoni & Karl Walentin, 2006. "Financial Frictions, Investment and Tobin's q," 2006 Meeting Papers 844, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    • Handle: RePEc:red:sed006:844
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    Cited by:

    1. Rampini, Adriano A. & Viswanathan, S., 2013. "Collateral and capital structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(2), pages 466-492.
    2. Patrick Bolton & Neng Wang & Jinqiang Yang, 2019. "Optimal Contracting, Corporate Finance, and Valuation with Inalienable Human Capital," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 74(3), pages 1363-1429, June.
    3. François Gourio & Leena Rudanko, 2014. "Customer Capital," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 81(3), pages 1102-1136.
    4. Abed Al‐Nasser Abdallah & Wissam Abdallah & Mohsen Saad, 2020. "Institutional characteristics, investment sensitivity to cash flow and Tobin's q: Evidence from the Middle East and North Africa region," International Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(2), pages 324-339, August.
    5. 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.
    6. Walentin, Karl, 2014. "Expectation driven business cycles with limited enforcement," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 124(2), pages 300-303.
    7. Claessens, Stijn & Ueda, Kenichi & Yafeh, Yishay, 2014. "Institutions and financial frictions: Estimating with structural restrictions on firm value and investment," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 107-122.
    8. Hengjie Ai & Dana Kiku & Rui Li & Jincheng Tong, 2021. "A Unified Model of Firm Dynamics with Limited Commitment and Assortative Matching," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 76(1), pages 317-356, February.
    9. Zheng Liu & Pengfei Wang & Tao Zha, 2009. "Do credit constraints amplify macroeconomic fluctuations?," Working Paper Series 2009-28, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
    10. Yishay Yafeh & Mr. Kenichi Ueda & Mr. Stijn Claessens, 2010. "Financial Frictions, Investment, and Institutions," IMF Working Papers 2010/231, International Monetary Fund.
    11. Michael R. Roberts, 2014. "The Role of Dynamic Renegotiation and Asymmetric Information in Financial Contracting," NBER Working Papers 20484, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Simmons-Süer, Banu, 2018. "“How relevant is capital structure for aggregate investment? a regime-switching approach”," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 109-117.
    13. Sandro Brusco & Eva Ropero, 2007. "Financing Constraints and Firm Dynamics with Durable Capital," Department of Economics Working Papers 07-08, Stony Brook University, Department of Economics.
    14. Roberts, Michael R., 2015. "The role of dynamic renegotiation and asymmetric information in financial contracting," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(1), pages 61-81.
    15. Patrick Bolton & Neng Wang & Jinqiang Yang, 2016. "Liquidity and Risk Management: Coordinating Investment and Compensation Policies," 2016 Meeting Papers 1703, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    16. Dan Vu Cao, 2010. "Collateral Shortages, Asset Price And Investment Volatility With Heterogeneous Beliefs," 2010 Meeting Papers 1233, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    17. Wang, Chong & Wang, Neng & Yang, Jinqiang, 2012. "A unified model of entrepreneurship dynamics," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(1), pages 1-23.
    18. Ai, Hengjie & Li, Rui, 2015. "Investment and CEO compensation under limited commitment," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(3), pages 452-472.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Financial constraints; Tobin's q; limited enforcement; investment; optimal capital structure;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E22 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Investment; Capital; Intangible Capital; Capacity
    • E30 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • E44 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy
    • E51 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Money Supply; Credit; Money Multipliers

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