Cash flow, investment, and investment opportunities: New tests using UK panel data

Alessandra Guariglia and Robert Carpenter ()

No 94, Royal Economic Society Annual Conference 2003 from Royal Economic Society

Abstract: The interpretation of the correlation between cash flow and investment is highly controversial. Some argue that it is caused by financial constraints, others by the correlation between cash flow and investment opportunities that are not properly measured by TobinÕs Q. This paper uses UK firmsÕ contracted capital expenditure to capture information about opportunities available only to insiders and thus not included in Q. When this variable is added in investment regressions, the explanatory power of cash flow falls for large firms, but remains unchanged for small firms. This suggests that the significance of cash flow stems from its role in alleviating credit frictions.

Keywords: investment; Tobin's Q; cash flow; financing constraints (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D92 E22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2003-06-04
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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Journal Article: Cash flow, investment, and investment opportunities: New tests using UK panel data (2008)
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