IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/red/sed011/911.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Convergence in Corporate Investments

Author

Listed:
  • Brandon Julio

    (London Business School)

  • Vito Gala

    (London Business School)

Abstract

We provide robust empirical evidence of conditional convergence in corporate investments among US firms. Small firms have significantly higher investment rates than large firms even after controlling for standard empirical proxies of firm investment opportunities and financial status, such as Tobin's Q and cash flow measures. The inclusion of a firm's initial size in a traditional Tobin's Q investment regression is at least as economically and statistically important as the inclusion of cash flow measures in explaining corporate investment dynamics. This finding is robust to measurement errors, sample selection, nonlinear specifications of the investment regression, different estimation horizons, and different proxies of investment opportunities and financial status. We also document convergence in corporate investments in other countries around the world. Accounting for the size dependence in standard empirical investment specifications substantially improves the explanatory power of corporate investments dynamics. Moreover, the empirical evidence suggests that firm size improves the measurement of firms' true investment opportunity set rather than reflecting differences in firms' financial constraints.

Suggested Citation

  • Brandon Julio & Vito Gala, 2011. "Convergence in Corporate Investments," 2011 Meeting Papers 911, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    • Handle: RePEc:red:sed011:911
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://red-files-public.s3.amazonaws.com/meetpapers/2011/paper_911.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gilchrist, Simon & Himmelberg, Charles P., 1995. "Evidence on the role of cash flow for investment," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 541-572, December.
    2. Eugene F. Fama & Kenneth R. French, 2001. "Disappearing Dividends: Changing Firm Characteristics Or Lower Propensity To Pay?," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 14(1), pages 67-79, March.
    3. Timothy Erickson & Toni M. Whited, 2000. "Measurement Error and the Relationship between Investment and q," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 108(5), pages 1027-1057, October.
    4. Jonas D. M. Fisher & Jeffrey R. Campbell, 2000. "Aggregate Employment Fluctuations with Microeconomic Asymmetries," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(5), pages 1323-1345, December.
    5. Sala-i-Martin, Xavier X, 1996. "The Classical Approach to Convergence Analysis," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 106(437), pages 1019-1036, July.
    6. Abel, Andrew B & Eberly, Janice C, 1994. "A Unified Model of Investment under Uncertainty," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(5), pages 1369-1384, December.
    7. Robert M. Solow, 1956. "A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 70(1), pages 65-94.
    8. Sean Cleary, 1999. "The Relationship between Firm Investment and Financial Status," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(2), pages 673-692, April.
    9. Robert J. Barro, 1991. "Economic Growth in a Cross Section of Countries," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(2), pages 407-443.
    10. Thorsten Beck & Asli Demirguc-Kunt & Luc Laeven & Ross Levine, 2008. "Finance, Firm Size, and Growth," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 40(7), pages 1379-1405, October.
    11. Lang, Larry & Ofek, Eli & Stulz, Rene M., 1996. "Leverage, investment, and firm growth," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 3-29, January.
    12. Opler, Tim & Pinkowitz, Lee & Stulz, Rene & Williamson, Rohan, 1999. "The determinants and implications of corporate cash holdings," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 3-46, April.
    13. Banz, Rolf W., 1981. "The relationship between return and market value of common stocks," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 3-18, March.
    14. Barclay, Michael J & Smith, Clifford W, Jr, 1995. "The Maturity Structure of Corporate Debt," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 50(2), pages 609-631, June.
    15. Diewert, W. Erwin & Fox, Kevin J., 2008. "On the estimation of returns to scale, technical progress and monopolistic markups," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 145(1-2), pages 174-193, July.
    16. Steven M. Fazzari & R. Glenn Hubbard & Bruce C. Petersen, 1988. "Financing Constraints and Corporate Investment," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 19(1), pages 141-206.
    17. Hopenhayn, Hugo & Rogerson, Richard, 1993. "Job Turnover and Policy Evaluation: A General Equilibrium Analysis," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(5), pages 915-938, October.
    18. Steven N. Kaplan & Luigi Zingales, 2000. "Investment-Cash Flow Sensitivities Are Not Valid Measures of Financing Constraints," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 115(2), pages 707-712.
    19. Janice Eberly & Sergio Rebelo & Nicolas Vincent, 2008. "Investment and Value: A Neoclassical Benchmark," Cahiers de recherche 08-03, HEC Montréal, Institut d'économie appliquée.
    20. Baumol, William J, 1986. "Productivity Growth, Convergence, and Welfare: What the Long-run Data Show," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(5), pages 1072-1085, December.
    21. N. Gregory Mankiw & David Romer & David N. Weil, 1992. "A Contribution to the Empirics of Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 107(2), pages 407-437.
    22. Erickson, Timothy & Whited, Toni M., 2005. "Proxy-quality thresholds: Theory and applications," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 2(3), pages 131-151, September.
    23. Hovakimian, Armen & Opler, Tim & Titman, Sheridan, 2001. "The Debt-Equity Choice," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 36(1), pages 1-24, March.
    24. Evans, David S, 1987. "Tests of Alternative Theories of Firm Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 95(4), pages 657-674, August.
    25. Oguzhan Ozbas & David S. Scharfstein, 2010. "Evidence on the Dark Side of Internal Capital Markets," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(2), pages 581-599, February.
    26. Tobin, James, 1969. "A General Equilibrium Approach to Monetary Theory," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 1(1), pages 15-29, February.
    27. Toni M. Whited & Guojun Wu, 2006. "Financial Constraints Risk," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 19(2), pages 531-559.
    28. Jovanovic, Boyan, 1982. "Selection and the Evolution of Industry," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(3), pages 649-670, May.
    29. Hayashi, Fumio, 1982. "Tobin's Marginal q and Average q: A Neoclassical Interpretation," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(1), pages 213-224, January.
    30. Jensen, Michael C & Murphy, Kevin J, 1990. "Performance Pay and Top-Management Incentives," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(2), pages 225-264, April.
    31. Whited, Toni M, 1992. "Debt, Liquidity Constraints, and Corporate Investment: Evidence from Panel Data," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(4), pages 1425-1460, September.
    32. Hall, Bronwyn H, 1987. "The Relationship between Firm Size and Firm Growth in the U.S. Manufacturing Sector," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(4), pages 583-606, June.
    33. repec:bla:jfinan:v:59:y:2004:i:4:p:1717-1742 is not listed on IDEAS
    34. Burnside, Craig, 1996. "Production function regressions, returns to scale, and externalities," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(2-3), pages 177-201, April.
    35. Gönül Çolak & Toni M. Whited, 2007. "Spin-offs, Divestitures, and Conglomerate Investment," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 20(3), pages 557-595.
    36. Hopenhayn, Hugo A, 1992. "Entry, Exit, and Firm Dynamics in Long Run Equilibrium," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 60(5), pages 1127-1150, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xiao, Min & You, Jiaxing & Zhao, Jingwen, 2017. "How Does Being Public Affect Firm Investment? Further Evidence from China," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 1-21.
    2. John Thanassoulis, 2013. "Industry Structure, Executive Pay, and Short-Termism," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 59(2), pages 402-419, June.
    3. Hengjie Ai & Rui Li, 2012. "Moral hazard, investment, and firm dynamics," FRB Atlanta CQER Working Paper 2012-01, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    4. Ai, Hengjie & Li, Rui, 2015. "Investment and CEO compensation under limited commitment," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(3), pages 452-472.

    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. Ferrando, Annalisa & Martinez-Carrascal, Carmen & Coluzzi, Chiara, 2009. "Financing obstacles and growth: an analysis for euro area non-financial corporations," Working Paper Series 997, European Central Bank.
    2. Coad, Alex, 2010. "Neoclassical vs evolutionary theories of financial constraints: Critique and prospectus," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 206-218, August.
    3. Jean-Bernard Chatelain, 2003. "Structural modelling of financial constraints on investment: where do we stand?," Chapters, in: Paul Butzen & Catherine Fuss (ed.), Firms’ Investment and Finance Decisions, chapter 2, pages 40-58, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Giulio Bottazzi & Angelo Secchi & Federico Tamagni, 2014. "Financial constraints and firm dynamics," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 42(1), pages 99-116, January.
    5. Giulio Bottazzi & Angelo Secchi & Federico Tamagni, 2014. "Financial constraints and firm dynamics," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 42(1), pages 99-116, January.
    6. Thomas F. Cooley & Vincenzo Quadrini, 2001. "Financial Markets and Firm Dynamics," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(5), pages 1286-1310, December.
    7. Manzur Quader & Karl Taylor, 2018. "Corporate efficiency, credit status and investment," The European Journal of Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(6), pages 439-457, April.
    8. Warusawitharana, Missaka, 2008. "Corporate asset purchases and sales: Theory and evidence," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(2), pages 471-497, February.
    9. Lin, Xiaoji & Wang, Chong & Wang, Neng & Yang, Jinqiang, 2018. "Investment, Tobin’s q, and interest rates," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(3), pages 620-640.
    10. Lou, Zhaohui & Xie, Qizhuo & Shen, Jim Huangnan & Lee, Chien-Chiang, 2024. "Does Supply Chain Finance (SCF) alleviate funding constraints of SMEs? Evidence from China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(PA).
    11. Chang, Xin & Tam, Lewis H.K. & Tan, Tek Jun & Wong, George, 2007. "The real impact of stock market mispricing -- Evidence from Australia," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 388-408, September.
    12. Filipe Silva & Carlos Carreira, 2012. "Measuring Firms’ Financial Constraints: A Rough Guide," Notas Económicas, Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra, issue 36, pages 23-46, December.
    13. Moshirian, Fariborz & Nanda, Vikram & Vadilyev, Alexander & Zhang, Bohui, 2017. "What drives investment–cash flow sensitivity around the World? An asset tangibility Perspective," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 1-17.
    14. Ann E. Harrison & Inessa Love & Margaret S. McMillan, 2022. "Global capital flows and financing constraints," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Globalization, Firms, and Workers, chapter 8, pages 181-213, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    15. D'Erasmo, Pablo, 2006. "Investment and firm dynamics," MPRA Paper 3598, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Apr 2007.
    16. Carpenter, Robert E. & Guariglia, Alessandra, 2008. "Cash flow, investment, and investment opportunities: New tests using UK panel data," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(9), pages 1894-1906, September.
    17. Wang, Xun, 2022. "Financial liberalization and the investment-cash flow sensitivity," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    18. Hengjie Ai & Kai Li & Rui Li, 2024. "Moral Hazard and Investment-Cash-Flow Sensitivity," Annals of Economics and Finance, Society for AEF, vol. 25(1), pages 143-174, May.
    19. Stijn Claessens & M Ayhan Kose, 2018. "Frontiers of macrofinancial linkages," BIS Papers, Bank for International Settlements, number 95, October –.
    20. Janvier D. Nkurunziza, 2005. "The Effect of Credit on Growth and Convergence of Firms in Kenyan Manufacturing," Economics Series Working Papers WPS/2005-01, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.

    More about this item

    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:red:sed011:911. 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: Christian Zimmermann (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/sedddea.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.