Labor's liquidity service and firing costs

This paper studies the specific effect that firing costs can have on firms facing liquidity constraints. When firing costs are zero and a time gap exists between production and its associated revenues, firing allows firms to hold on to their liquid assets by saving on wages, and thus, allows firms to cope better with liquidity shocks when external financing is too costly or unavailable. I refer to this feature as labor's liquidity service. Higher firing costs reduces the value of labor's liquidity service, and thus, increases firms' incentive for hoarding liquidity and reduces firms' demand for production inputs. In addition to this negative effect at the creation margin of production, firing costs have a relatively higher positive effect on the destruction margin of production of financially restricted firms. This paper presents a model that develops these ideas and shows that the presence of firing costs has a stronger negative effect on the output of firms facing liquidity constraints. Regression analysis, based on country-industry panel data sets, provides empirical evidence consistent with the liquidity service effect of firing costs. I find a relatively stronger negative effect of firing costs on the output of industries with higher liquidity requirements and a relatively stronger negative effect of firing costs on the output of small, and more likely financially constrained, firms.     

Exogenous cash: testing financing constraints on inventory investment using dynamic panels with additional information from annual reports

In spite of the literature’s great interests in firms’ financing constraints on investment, the endogeneity problem between investment and cash flow have long plagued the empirical endeavor. To avoid the problem, we use firms’ nonoperating income, which is shown to be exogenous to profitability, both as a direct measure of liquidity and as an instrumental variable to control for the endogeneity problem of cash flow. Estimation results do not support the financing constraint hypothesis. We also conduct a narrative analysis on firms’ Annual Reports to identify factors causing inventory reduction. We find that accounting adjustments and decreases in market demand are two important factors in investment disinvestment, and financial difficulty does not play an important role in this regard.     

Determinants and Economic Consequences of Non-financial Disclosure Quality

This paper examines the determinants and economic consequences of non-financial disclosure quality, which is measured according to the ratings of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure provided by the Ministry of Economic Affairs in the Netherlands. We find that firms with better CSR performance, greater external financing needs, and stronger corporate governance tend to provide higher quality CSR disclosures. In return, these firms gain greater analyst coverage, higher levels of institutional ownership, greater stock liquidity, higher valuations in SEOs, and lower yields to maturity in bond issuances. These benefits apply largely to firms with strong CSR performance. Collectively, our findings suggest that higher quality CSR disclosures deliver economic benefits.     

Are government-linked IPOs underpriced? A three country privatization effort comparison

Underpricing in the case of the initial public offerings of private (non-government) firms has been well documented. However, there does not appear to be any systematic study of the price performance of “government-linked” companies or GLCs, which have been “privatized” through public offerings in the stock market. This study examines the hypothesis that the initial public offerings (IPOs) of such companies in the United Kingdom, Singapore, and Malaysia will not only be underpriced, but their degree of underpricing will be relatively greater when compared to firms with no governmental links. The results provide strong support for this hypothesis.     

Private debt, unused credit lines, and seasoned equity offerings

We study a sample of SEOs to examine the impact of private debt and unused credit lines on SEO underpricing and long-run stock and operating performance. We do not find significant effects of private debt financing on SEO underpricing and long-run stock underperformance. However, firms with more bank debt and unused lines of credit exhibit significantly better pre-issue operating performance. Changes in operating performance from the pre-issue year to the post-issue period are negatively related to the size of unused credit lines. Capital spending decreases with the size of unused credit lines in the year prior to SEOs, but increases following SEOs. Our overall evidence suggests that the post-issue operating performance we observed may be a result of overinvestment, which is enhanced by unused credit lines.     

Trade credit financing and stock price crash risk

This study investigates the association between trade credit financing and stock price crash risk within China's context. We find that firms using more trade credit financing have significantly lower future stock price crash risk. This negative association is more pronounced for firms with greater information asymmetry and for firms located in less developed financial markets. This finding is robust to the endogeneity concern, alternative measures of stock price crash risk, and the inclusion of other factors identified in prior studies that might affect stock price crash risk. Further evidence suggests that both the monitoring mechanism and the disclosure mechanism drive the documented relation. Our study suggests that access to trade credit can significantly reduce the likelihood of crash risk in a country like China with less developed formal bank financing. Our study also suggests that investors can effectively avoid stock price crash risk by using the trade credit information disclosed in financial statements.     

How does a firm's life cycle influence the relationship between carbon performance and financial debt?

In a progressively more stringent regulatory context concerning greenhouse gas emissions derived from a growing awareness of how economic activity affects our environment, this study analyzes how the firm's life cycle affects the relationship between carbon performance and financial debt. Using panel data on a sample of European listed firms during the 2005–2018 period, we find evidence suggesting that firms with better carbon performance have greater access to external financing during their growth stages and lesser access during maturity, although it has no effect during the shake-out stage. Furthermore, carbon performance has a strong positive effect during growth, maturity, and shake-out when firms need to finance additional tangible investments. We also find that the negative relationship between liquidity and debt is reversed during innovative stages for firms with better carbon performance. Our results are robust to the use of alternative measures of life cycle stages and to the consideration of industrial, legal, and cultural contexts.     

A Comparison of Reporting Lags of Multinational and Domestic Firms

This study examines whether multinational firms report earnings sooner than domestic firms. When compared with domestic firms, the reporting environment and business operations of multinational firms are significantly more complex. There is a greater amount of information asymmetry between managers and shareholders of multinational firms. Therefore, multinational firms potentially face higher monitoring and external financing costs. To reduce these costs, we conjecture that managers of multinational firms take steps to reduce the information asymmetry between shareholders and management by increasing the timeliness (a proxy for relevance) of their earnings reports. Specifically, we expect multinational firms to announce earnings earlier than domestic firms. We separate earnings reporting delay into auditor‐related delay and management's discretionary delay. While test results weakly support the hypothesis that auditors take longer to audit multinational firms, there is strong evidence that managers of multinational firms release their earnings reports sooner than domestic firms.     

融资约束对企业生产率的影响——基于系统GMM方法的国企与民企差异检验

本文基于2003～2009年中国制造业上市公司面板数据,运用附加融资约束变量的增广生产函数和系统广义矩估计方法,研究国企和民企资金可获得性在影响生产率方面的差异。结果发现,上市公司生产率从总体上看不受制于内源融资,但按所有制分类后,只有民企存在融资约束并显著影响生产率,生产率高的民企通常拥有丰裕的内源资金;进一步按流动性与负债状况分类后仍不改变结论,而且流动性差、负债率高的民企所受约束更加严重。     

IPO performance and the size effect: Evidence for the US and Canada

This study provides new evidence on the interaction between firm size and IPO underpricing in the US and Canadian markets. We find a size effect on IPO underpricing in both Canada and the US, which is larger for Canadian firms. Canadian small firms show more underpricing than US small firms (19.32% vs. 13.87%). Large Canadian firms also exhibit more underpricing than their US counterparts over the sample period (12.83% vs. 10.09%). A size effect on performance is not apparent for holding periods beyond six months from the IPO in both countries, consistent with seasoning effects that reduce information asymmetries across firms over longer investment horizons.     

Why do companies choose to go ipos? New results using data from Taiwan

We examine the determinants of IPOs in Taiwan for the period 1989 to 2000. The regulations in Taiwan permit us to identify firms that met IPO requirements but chose not to go public, allowing for comparisons of firms that choose IPOs and those do not. We find strong evidence that IPOs are not motivated by financing need, that larger and profitable firms are more likely to list equity, and that venture capital provides certification to firm credibility. Other findings provide support for information asymmetry, listing costs, liquidity, owners’ diversification desire, timing, and facilitation of M&As as factors influencing IPO decisions. (JEL G32, G15, G24)     

Corporate commitment to climate change action,carbon risk exposure,and a firm's debt financing policy

Motivated by the rising consensus that corporate engagement in climate change actions holds the key for society's transition into environmentally resilient economy, the study examines whether a firm's commitment to climate change action and its carbon risk exposure shape the firm's debt financing policy. Based on insights drawn from signaling, corporate reputation, and agency theories, we develop models that link corporate commitment to climate change actions and a firm's carbon risk exposure with its debt financing decisions. Using data drawn from S&P 500 companies, for years 2015 to 2019, we find a robust evidence that firms that engage in higher levels of commitment to climate change actions issue a higher proportion of debt with longer terms to maturity, even after controlling for their carbon risk exposure. However, we do not find a robust evidence corroborating an association between firms' carbon risk exposure and their debt financing policy. These findings are consistent with arguments that high-commitment firms enjoy positive reputation, better credit rating, and reduced agency and information asymmetry costs, allowing them to gain easier access to long-term debt markets.     

How Does Ambiguity Influence IPO Underpricing? The Role of the Signalling Environment

We explore the relationship between ambiguity, or low information clarity, in the IPO prospectus of newly public firms and their underpricing. Consistent with signalling theory, we find that IPO underpricing is low when the prospectus contains less ambiguous information that creates a more reliable signal conveying the quality of the IPO firm. However, the positive association between ambiguity and IPO underpricing is less pronounced when IPO firms display low strategic conformity with other firms in the industry, operate in industries with high valuation heterogeneity, or are medium‐sized. Using a sample of 398 IPOs between 1998 and 2007, our results support these predictions. This study shows the importance of the signalling environment influencing boundedly rational signal recipients interpreting ambiguous signals.     

To What Extent Does the Interest Burden Affect Firm Survival? Evidence from a Panel of UK Firms during the Recent Financial Crisis

Using a panel of mainly unquoted UK firms over the period 2000–09, we document a significant effect of changes in the interest burden from debt‐servicing on firm survival. The effect is found to be stronger during the recent financial crisis compared with more tranquil periods. Furthermore, the survival chances of bank‐dependent, younger, and non‐exporting firms are most affected by changes in the interest burden, especially during the crisis. Our results are robust to using different estimation methods and different interest burden measures They suggest that one way for policymakers to mitigate the effects of financial crises by limiting firm failures would be to prevent financing costs from rising, especially for those firms more likely to face liquidity constraints.     

Equity private placements, liquid assets, and firm value

This paper finds wealth enhancement from equity private placement issuances where liquid assets are provided to slack-poor companies. This result runs counter to the expected Jensen's (1986) excess free-cash-flow problem, where the predominant findings of numerous studies include negative wealth effects from externally financed liquidity enhancements. We also find greater announcement-period returns for smaller firms and firms with better recent performance. Investors appear to view either of these factors, together with the private investor’s willingness to provide additional liquidity, as an asymmetric information release on the firm’s viability and likelihood of improved performance.     

大客户兼供应商与企业融资约束

基于2009—2021年我国沪深A股上市公司前五大客户与供应商的信息数据，探究大客户兼是主要供应商这一特殊情形对企业融资约束的影响及其作用机制。研究发现，大客户兼供应商的存在会加剧企业融资约束，且这一效应对于非国有控股和非制造业企业以及当该类客户销售占比低于采购占比和与企业位于同一行业时更为显著。机制检验结果表明，关联交易是大客户兼供应商加剧企业融资约束的作用渠道，而非财务造假行为和真实经营模式带来的弱势市场地位和高经营效率，表明大客户兼主要供应商在我国情境下是一种供应链风险信号，其背后往往隐藏着关联交易，这不仅拓展了学术界和实务界对企业大客户与供应商的认知，也从供应链视角为我国企业“融资难、融资贵”提供了新的解释。     

关于债务期限结构影响因素之研究——来自沪深股市上市公司的经验证据

本文对2001至2006年度沪深股市中的575家上市公司债务期限的影响因素进行了研究。结果表明：影响上市公司债务期限的因素主要有流动性风险的一次方、流动性风险的二次方、资产期限、企业规模、财务杠杆、增长期权和边际税率;上市公司的债务融资决策考虑到了其自身的财务风险状况,因而尽管上市公司的债务期限偏短,但却是其理性思索的结果;偏短的债务期限导致上市公司存在着固定资产投资不足的倾向,因此当前应积极发展长期债务市场,努力降低上市公司进行长期债务融资的成本,从而诱使其借入更多的长期债务,以便有更多的长期资金用于其长期资产的投资,最终切实提高其盈利能力的可持续性。     

Cross-sectional differences in the liquidity effects of open market share repurchases

I examine liquidity changes associated with open market share repurchases, with the focus on potential cross-sectional variations of liquidity effects. I hypothesize that a liquidity change, either a decrease or an increase, will be larger in a firm with a higher degree of pre-announcement information asymmetry. Results suggest that the null hypothesis of no liquidity change cannot be rejected. In particular, there is no evidence for cross-sectional variation of liquidity changes across firms with differing degrees of information asymmetry. Special/thanks go to Kim Woo Choong, former chairman of DAEWOO Group, and Park Chung Kil for their support.     

Patents, Thickets and the Financing of Early-Stage Firms: Evidence from the Software Industry

Legal changes in the patentability of software since the mid 1990s have resulted in a substantial increase in the number of patents on software inventions. We focus here on the impact of transactions costs associated with patent "thickets" on new entrants' interactions with the capital markets. Using data on the financing of entrants into 27 narrowly defined software markets, we show that start-up software companies operating in markets characterized by denser patent thickets saw their initial acquisition of VC funding delayed relative to firms in markets less affected by patents after the mid 1990s. The relationship between patent thickets and subsequent financing activity such as IPO or acquisition is more complex, but there is weak evidence that firms without patents became less likely to go public if they operated in a market characterized by patent thickets. Firms with patents are more likely to be funded or experience a liquidity event. However, the application for a patent appears to matter more than its grant.     

绿色债券发行能缓解企业债务违约风险吗？——基于多期DID模型的研究

运用理论模型对企业发行不同债券时的差异性情景进行分析,提出企业的绿色债券发行对自身债务违约风险存在抑制效应,并选取2016—2020年1604家上市非金融公司的年度面板数据,基于多期DID模型进行实证检验。研究表明：企业发行绿色债券可以显著降低自身债务违约风险;企业发行绿色债券可以通过缓解融资约束、降低债务融资成本、提高股票流动性和增强绿色声誉这四个渠道降低自身的债务违约风险;外部融资依赖度高、研发支出占比低、信息披露程度高和管理者短视程度低的企业发行绿色债券可以更显著地降低自身债务违约风险。政策上应该进一步引导企业合理发行绿色债券,推动绿色金融的发展。