IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/sfb373/199849.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Finance, investment, and firm value in Germany and the US: A comparative analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Nowak, Eric

Abstract

Germany and the United States are generally seen as the two competing systems of corporate governance. In search for a comparative welfare analysis of the financial systems, we are interested in (i) the aggregate value-added of corporate investments in the two countries and in (ii) the interaction of investment and financing decisions. This paper investigates the impact of financing, investment, and dividend decisions on the value of stock corporations in Germany and the US. The methodology is based on a cross-sectional approach proposed by Fama and French. In general, the evidence shows that relations for the German firms are statistically similar to those found for their US counterparts. In both countries, corporate investment creates value in excess of cost, but the US industrial sector seems to be more efficient in making value-enhancing investments. Robust statistical methods are applied to verify the results. They do not change the main conclusions.

Suggested Citation

  • Nowak, Eric, 1998. "Finance, investment, and firm value in Germany and the US: A comparative analysis," SFB 373 Discussion Papers 1998,49, Humboldt University of Berlin, Interdisciplinary Research Project 373: Quantification and Simulation of Economic Processes.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:sfb373:199849
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/61273/1/721979459.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:bla:jfinan:v:43:y:1988:i:3:p:567-91 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Robert A. Korajczyk & Deborah Lucas & Robert L. McDonald, 1990. "Understanding Stock Price Behavior around the Time of Equity Issues," NBER Chapters, in: Asymmetric Information, Corporate Finance, and Investment, pages 257-278, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Mayer, Colin, 1988. "New issues in corporate finance," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(5), pages 1167-1183, June.
    4. Stewart C. Myers & Nicholas S. Majluf, 1984. "Corporate Financing and Investment Decisions When Firms Have InformationThat Investors Do Not Have," NBER Working Papers 1396, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Myers, Stewart C. & Majluf, Nicholas S., 1984. "Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 187-221, June.
    6. Michael E. Porter, 1992. "Capital Choices: Changing The Way America Invests In Industry," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 5(2), pages 4-16, June.
    7. Kaplan, Steven N, 1994. "Top Executives, Turnover, and Firm Performance in Germany," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 10(1), pages 142-159, April.
    8. Michael C. Jensen, 2010. "The Modern Industrial Revolution, Exit, and the Failure of Internal Control Systems," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 22(1), pages 43-58, January.
    9. Miller, Merton H. & Scholes, Myron S., 1978. "Dividends and taxes," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(4), pages 333-364, December.
    10. John J. McCall, 1982. "The Economics of Information and Uncertainty," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number mcca82-1.
    11. Stulz, ReneM., 1990. "Managerial discretion and optimal financing policies," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 3-27, July.
    12. Andrei Shleifer & Lawrence H. Summers, 1988. "Breach of Trust in Hostile Takeovers," NBER Chapters, in: Corporate Takeovers: Causes and Consequences, pages 33-68, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Sanford J. Grossman & Oliver D. Hart, 1982. "Corporate Financial Structure and Managerial Incentives," NBER Chapters, in: The Economics of Information and Uncertainty, pages 107-140, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Jensen, Michael C, 1986. "Agency Costs of Free Cash Flow, Corporate Finance, and Takeovers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(2), pages 323-329, May.
    15. Harris, Ts & Lang, M & Moller, Hp, 1994. "The Value Relevance Of German Accounting Measures - An Empirical-Analysis," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(2), pages 187-209.
    16. Rajan, Raghuram G & Zingales, Luigi, 1995. "What Do We Know about Capital Structure? Some Evidence from International Data," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 50(5), pages 1421-1460, December.
    17. Fama, Eugene F, 1978. "The Effects of a Firm's Investment and Financing Decisions on the Welfare of Its Security Holders," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 68(3), pages 272-284, June.
    18. Merton H. Miller & Franco Modigliani, 1961. "Dividend Policy, Growth, and the Valuation of Shares," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34, pages 411-411.
    19. Amihud, Yakov & Lev, Baruch & Travlos, Nickolaos G, 1990. "Corporate Control and the Choice of Investment Financing: The Case of Corporate Acquisitions," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 45(2), pages 603-616, June.
    20. Allen, Franklin & Gale, Douglas, 1995. "A welfare comparison of intermediaries and financial markets in Germany and the US," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 179-209, February.
    21. Myers, Stewart C., 1977. "Determinants of corporate borrowing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(2), pages 147-175, November.
    22. Brown, Stephen J. & Warner, Jerold B., 1985. "Using daily stock returns : The case of event studies," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 3-31, March.
    23. Jensen, Michael C. & Ruback, Richard S., 1983. "The market for corporate control : The scientific evidence," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(1-4), pages 5-50, April.
    24. Miller, Merton H & Rock, Kevin, 1985. "Dividend Policy under Asymmetric Information," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 40(4), pages 1031-1051, September.
    25. Harris, Milton & Raviv, Artur, 1991. "The Theory of Capital Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 46(1), pages 297-355, March.
    26. Amihud, Yakov & Murgia, Maurizio, 1997. "Dividends, Taxes, and Signaling: Evidence from Germany," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(1), pages 397-408, March.
    27. Allen, Franklin & Gale, Douglas, 1997. "Financial Markets, Intermediaries, and Intertemporal Smoothing," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(3), pages 523-546, June.
    28. Masulis, Ronald W, 1983. "The Impact of Capital Structure Change on Firm Value: Some Estimates," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 38(1), pages 107-126, March.
    29. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 1993. "Common risk factors in the returns on stocks and bonds," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 3-56, February.
    30. repec:bla:jfinan:v:44:y:1989:i:2:p:451-68 is not listed on IDEAS
    31. Myers, Stewart C., 1984. "Capital structure puzzle," Working papers 1548-84., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management.
    32. Asquith, Paul & Mullins, David W, Jr, 1983. "The Impact of Initiating Dividend Payments on Shareholders' Wealth," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56(1), pages 77-96, January.
    33. Marsh, Paul, 1982. "The Choice between Equity and Debt: An Empirical Study," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 37(1), pages 121-144, March.
    34. Kothari, S. P. & Shanken, Jay, 1992. "Stock return variation and expected dividends : A time-series and cross-sectional analysis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 177-210, April.
    35. Miller, Merton H, 1977. "Debt and Taxes," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 32(2), pages 261-275, May.
    36. Myers, Stewart C, 1984. "The Capital Structure Puzzle," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 39(3), pages 575-592, July.
    37. Charest, Guy, 1978. "Dividend information, stock returns and market efficiency-II," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(2-3), pages 297-330.
    38. Rosen, Sherwin, 1994. "Managerial Compensation, Control, and Investment," Working Papers 100, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State.
    39. Harris, Milton & Raviv, Artur, 1990. "Capital Structure and the Informational Role of Debt," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 45(2), pages 321-349, June.
    40. Knez, Peter J & Ready, Mark J, 1997. "On the Robustness of Size and Book-to-Market in Cross-Sectional Regressions," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(4), pages 1355-1382, September.
    41. Fama, Eugene F & MacBeth, James D, 1973. "Risk, Return, and Equilibrium: Empirical Tests," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 81(3), pages 607-636, May-June.
    42. Kim, Yong Cheol & Stulz, ReneM., 1988. "The Eurobond market and corporate financial policy : A test of the clientele hypothesis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 189-205, December.
    43. Colin Mayer, 1990. "Financial Systems, Corporate Finance, and Economic Development," NBER Chapters, in: Asymmetric Information, Corporate Finance, and Investment, pages 307-332, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    44. Stewart C. Myers, 1984. "Capital Structure Puzzle," NBER Working Papers 1393, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    45. Mayer, Colin, 1993. "Ownership: An Inaugural Lecture," Economic Research Papers 268552, University of Warwick - Department of Economics.
    46. Sudipto Bhattacharya, 1979. "Imperfect Information, Dividend Policy, and "The Bird in the Hand" Fallacy," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 10(1), pages 259-270, Spring.
    47. Edwards,Jeremy & Fischer,Klaus, 1996. "Banks, Finance and Investment in Germany," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521566087, January.
    48. Masulis, Ronald W., 1980. "The effects of capital structure change on security prices : A study of exchange offers," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 139-178, June.
    49. Smith, Clifford Jr. & Warner, Jerold B., 1979. "On financial contracting : An analysis of bond covenants," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 117-161, June.
    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. Sanjiva Prasad & Christopher J. Green & Victor Murinde, 2001. "Company Financing, Captial Structure, and Ownership: A Survey, and Implications for Developing Economies," SUERF Studies, SUERF - The European Money and Finance Forum, number 12 edited by Morten Balling, May.
    2. Sanjiva Prasad & Christopher J. Green & Victor Murinde, 2005. "Company Financial Structure: A Survey and Implications for Developing Economies," Chapters, in: Christopher J. Green & Colin Kirkpatrick & Victor Murinde (ed.), Finance and Development, chapter 12, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Rizov, Marian, 2008. "Corporate capital structure and how soft budget constraints may affect it," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 22(4), pages 648-684.
    4. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1997. "A Survey of Corporate Governance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(2), pages 737-783, June.
    5. Adelegan, Olatundun, 2006. "Effects of taxes financing decisions and firm value in Nigeria," Proceedings of the German Development Economics Conference, Berlin 2006 1, Verein für Socialpolitik, Research Committee Development Economics.
    6. Antonczyk, Ron Christian & Salzmann, Astrid Juliane, 2014. "Overconfidence and optimism: The effect of national culture on capital structure," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 132-151.
    7. Szilagyi, P.G., 2007. "Corporate governance and the agency costs of debt and outside equity," Other publications TiSEM 9520d40a-224f-43a8-9bf9-b, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    8. Wiwattanakantang, Yupana, 1999. "An empirical study on the determinants of the capital structure of Thai firms," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 7(3-4), pages 371-403, August.
    9. repec:dgr:rugsom:01e54 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Paulo, Alves, 2018. "Abnormal retained earnings around the world," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 63-74.
    11. Chen, Linda H. & Jiang, George J., 2001. "The financing behavior of Dutch firms," Research Report 01E54, University of Groningen, Research Institute SOM (Systems, Organisations and Management).
    12. Jiang, Zhan & Kim, Kenneth A., 2013. "Financial management in China," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 125-133.
    13. repec:dgr:rugsom:01e55 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Cai, Jie & Zhang, Zhe, 2011. "Leverage change, debt overhang, and stock prices," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 391-402, June.
    15. Todd Mitton, 2008. "Why Have Debt Ratios Increased for Firms in Emerging Markets?," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 14(1), pages 127-151, January.
    16. Chen, Linda H. & Jiang, George J., 2001. "The determinants of Dutch capital structure choice," Research Report 01E55, University of Groningen, Research Institute SOM (Systems, Organisations and Management).
    17. Frankfurter, George M. & Wood, Bob Jr., 2002. "Dividend policy theories and their empirical tests," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 11(2), pages 111-138.
    18. Balla, Andrea, 2006. "Tőkeszerkezeti döntések - empirikus elemzés a magyar feldolgozóipari vállalatokról 1992-2001 között [Decisions affecting capital structure - an empirical analysis of Hungarian manufacturing firms i," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(7), pages 681-700.
    19. Paulo J. Maçãs Nunes & Zélia M. Serrasqueiro, 2007. "Capital Structure of Portuguese Service Industries: A Panel Data Analysis," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(5), pages 549-562, July.
    20. Elena Alexandra Nenu & Georgeta Vintilă & Ştefan Cristian Gherghina, 2018. "The Impact of Capital Structure on Risk and Firm Performance: Empirical Evidence for the Bucharest Stock Exchange Listed Companies," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 6(2), pages 1-29, April.
    21. Bae, John & Kim, Sang-Joon & Oh, Hannah, 2017. "Taming polysemous signals: The role of marketing intensity on the relationship between financial leverage and firm performance," Review of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 29-40.
    22. Drobetz, Wolfgang & Pensa, Pascal & Wöhle, Claudia B., 2004. "Kapitalstrukturtheorie in Theorie und Praxis: Ergebnisse einer Fragebogenuntersuchung," Working papers 2004/09, Faculty of Business and Economics - University of Basel.

    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:zbw:sfb373:199849. 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: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/sfhubde.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.