AN EMPIRICAL EXAMINATION OF THE HANGOVER EFFECT OF IRREVERSIBILITY ON INVESTMENT

Irreversibility does not only raise the user cost of capital and discourage new investment but also hinders disinvestment because of the hangover effect. This paper derives a theoretical model that separates the impact of conventional convex adjustment costs from the impact of irreversibility, based on which we test the hangover effect of irreversibility by using a panel of Dutch listed firms during 1985–2000. We find that the sample firms cut both the capital stock and the inventory stock facing shocks to sales and cash flow, but they cut the inventory stock by a larger magnitude than they cut the capital stock. Given that fixed investment is more irreversible than inventory investment, the result suggests that the diminished impact of irreversibility provides the firm with more flexibility in responding to uncertainty, which lends support for the hangover effect of irreversibility on investment.     

INVENTORIES AND FIXED INVESTMENT

We model fixed investment incorporating the inventory decision of the firm. Using Dutch listed nonfinancial firms during 1985–2000, we find that the inventory stock is negatively associated with fixed investment. The results suggest that the inventory stock may be used by the firm as a buffer in response to unexpectedly high demand. In addition, the firm may hold the inventory stock as a contingency substitute for the financial source of fixed investment.     

Does Trade Credit Substitute Bank Credit? Evidence from Firm‐level Data

The paper examines micro data on Italian manufacturing firms' inventory behaviour to test the Meltzer (1960) hypothesis according to which firms substitute bank credit with trade credit (TC) during money tightening. We find that inventory investment of Italian manufacturing firms is constrained by their availability of TC and that this effect more than doubles during monetary restrictions. As for the magnitude of the substitution effect, however, we find that it is not sizeable. This is in line with the micro theories of TC and the evidence on actual firm practices, according to which credit terms display modest variations over time .     

Experimental duopolies under price guarantees

This paper analyses inventory investment using a balanced panel of 82 Dutch firms. We start from the Lovell (1961) inventory model and amend it with cash flow to introduce capital market imperfections. The empirical evidence provides support for the relevance of capital market imperfections in explaining Dutch inventory investment. The results suggest that cash flow is a relevant variable omitted from the original Lovell model. The study provides a better understanding of inventory behaviour in general.     

Exchange rate uncertainty and firm-level investment: Finding the Hartman–Abel effect

Motivated by Lee and Shin (2000, AER), we study the interplay of the share of variable input, investment irreversibility, and market power in shaping the relationship between investment and uncertainty. Employing a large panel of Chinese manufacturing firms, combined with industry-specific exchange rates for the period 1998–2006, our system Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimation finds that uncertainty significantly encourages (discourages) investment for firms with high (low) labor share or low (high) investment irreversibility, and the impact is magnified for firms with low market power. Our paper demonstrates the importance of the share of variable input, investment irreversibility, and market power in the Hartman–Abel paradoxical effect that predicts a positive relationship between uncertainty and investment in the international economics context.     

Policy uncertainty and inventory behavior: Evidence from the US manufacturing sector

This study investigates the impact of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) on asymmetric inventory investment (i.e., inventory stickiness or sticky inventory management). Using a sample of 74,912 US firm-year observations over the 1984–2021 period, we observe a significantly negative relationship between EPU and asymmetric inventory investment. Our cross-sectional analyses reveal that managers' pessimistic expectations regarding future demand and higher cost of funding and maintaining capacity are the channels through which EPU affects asymmetric inventory behavior. Moreover, this negative impact is more pronounced for firms that face longer-duration uncertainty, rely heavily on government purchases, and have higher firm-specific political risk. Lastly, we find that reducing inventory stickiness leads to improved firm performance during periods of increasing policy uncertainty.     

同群效应与公司研发*——来自中国的证据

本文研究了“同群公司”的研发支出对公司自身研发行为的影响。研究发现，同群公司研发支出越多，公司自身研发支出也越多。进一步研究发现，在公司与同群公司地理距离较近或同群公司分析师覆盖程度较高情况下，同群公司研发支出与公司自身研发支出的正相关关系更强。此外，同群公司研发支出会提高公司自身研发支出与未来业绩的正相关程度。研究表明，公司会学习同群公司的研发决策，进而改变其自身研发决策，呈现显著的研发支出同群效应；且公司信息解读成本较低时，研发支出同群效应更为显著。本文不仅丰富了关于研发支出影响因素的研究，还拓展了对研发溢出效应的研究。本文的研究结论对公司制定研发决策具有重要指导意义。     

Interregional infrastructure,competition for capital,and local public expenditure policies: Evidence from China's high-speed rail network

Interregional infrastructure promotes market integration and enhances the mobility of capital, thereby intensifying fiscal competition among local governments. Exploiting the expansion of China's high-speed rail (HSR) network as plausibly exogenous shocks, this study examines how Interregional infrastructure affects the fiscal competition among local governments. We find that after connecting with the HSR network, city governments tend to dedicate a lower proportion of public spending to consumption goods, which benefit immobile households, and invest more in productive inputs, which attract mobile firms. We also find that the negative effect of HSR connection on the proportion of consumption goods is more pronounced in peripheral cities than core cities because periphery cities face a larger increase in capital mobility due to the core–periphery effects of trade integration induced by HSR. Our findings indicate that the behavioural responses of local governments should be accounted for when assessing the social welfare of interregional infrastructure.     

High-speed rail,tourist mobility,and firm value

Infrastructure is critical to the development of the tourism industry. Although high-speed rail (HSR) is an important component of transportation infrastructure and may reshape tourism activities, little attention has been paid on the impact of HSR on tourism firms’ value. We use a natural quasi-experimental of Chinese cities connected to HSR and difference-in-differences (DID) estimation to show that: (1) HSR substantially increases tourism firms’ value. (2) We introduce dynamic DID and placebo test to further establish causality. (3) A plausible mechanism driving our finding is the tourist mobility with HSR. (4) Our findings are particularly pronounced for small firms and offer theoretical and practical implications to understand tourist mobility and tourism firm value.     

Is high-speed rail heading towards a low-carbon industry? Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China

Existing studies have investigated the environmental dividends of substituting high-speed rail (HSR) for other energy-intensive vehicles from an engineering standpoint, but they have yet to explore the economic effects of HSR and the associated carbon emissions reduction benefits. To fill the research gap, we use panel data from 285 Chinese cities between 2004 and 2014, and employ a spatial difference-in-differences model to empirically examine the impact of HSR opening on industrial CO₂ emissions. After controlling for spillover effects from neighboring HSR cities, our results show that cities offering HSR services significantly reduce their own industrial CO₂ emissions. This finding is robust and is unaffected by outliers, control group selection, time trends, geography and expectation factors, or endogeneity. The mechanism test reveals that the structural transformation effect, technological innovation effect, and investment attractiveness effect are three intermediate influence channels. Further research finds that the emissions reduction benefit increases as the spatial and temporal intensities of HSR openings ascend the ladder, and HSR services have a spillover effect within a 300-kilometer radius. Moreover, the carbon benefit of China’s HSR far surpasses its carbon footprint, indicating that China’s HSR is green after accounting for economic emissions reductions that were often neglected in prior research. Based on these findings, we recommend that China accelerate HSR expansion in order to reduce carbon emissions in a scientific and responsible manner.     

高铁开通对企业创新的影响——基于上市公司微观数据的实证分析

基于微观经济理论的视角,本文考察了高铁开通对企业创新的影响.研究发现:高铁开通提高了企业的创新水平.进一步研究发现高铁开通主要通过减少信息不对称、缓解融资约束以及促进竞争三条途径促进创新.此外,高铁开通对非国有企业和交流密集型企业的创新影响更加显著.结合本文的研究结果,各级政府部门应该积极地改善企业创新的时空环境,提升...     

融资约束下CEO过度自信是否会导致企业R & D投资扭曲

从融资约束角度出发,以我国2003-2014年沪深上市制造业和信息技术业企业为样本,通过对R&D动态投资模型和投资扭曲模型进行面板分析发现：与固定资产投资相比,CEO过度自信对企业R&D融资约束影响更明显,从而导致其对R&D投资扭曲的影响也更显著。通过企业异质性检验发现,对于易受融资约束的中小企业,CEO过度自信会造成其投资不足,而对于不易受融资约束的企业,CEO过度自信并不会造成其过度投资。因此,CEO过度自信对企业创新投入的促进作用只在企业不受融资约束时才成立。     

Firm location and corporate dividend policy: evidence from China

We investigate the relation between a firm’s geographic location and its dividend policy. We find that firms headquartered in the National Central Cities, cities with high-speed rail (HSR), and with shorter distance to the nearest National Central City pay higher dividends. We find evidence that attributes the higher dividends to an increase in the number of analysts’ site visits, greater information transparency, and a reduction in financial constraints. Finally, the observed increases in dividends tend to be stronger for firms that benefit the most from improvements in the information environment after the arrival of HSR, such as firms located in regions without regional airports, firms located in areas with a lower regional gross domestic product, firms located a greater distance to the closest National Central City, and firms that are smaller, state-owned, have a shorter listing history in the exchanges, and have a more concentrated ownership.     

家族所有权调节下的CEO薪酬与研发投资

以2013—2018年期间379家中国A股技术密集型公司数据为样本,研究了家族所有权在研发投资和CEO薪酬关系中的调节作用。结果发现:与非家族企业相比,家族企业CEO薪酬与研发投资水平关联性较高;家族所有权比例较高的家族企业对CEO薪酬与研发投资的关系具有更强的正向调节能力;低风险与高风险的家族企业在研发投资上没有显著差异。因此,家族所有权在研发投资和CEO薪酬关系中具有调节的作用是基于信息优势和较长的投资期限,而并非风险规避。进一步研究发现:家族企业的研发投资比非家族企业具有更高的投资效率、并可转化为更高的企业价值和增长率。     

粤港澳大湾区都市圈高速铁路供给机制与效率评估——以深惠汕捷运为例

随着粤港澳大湾区上升为国家战略,都市圈层面交通需求日益增加。都市圈高速铁路规划建设能促进城际社会经济联系,推动空间一体化。在交通强国背景下,如何创新都市圈跨市高速铁路供给模式,实施有效的治理体制,提升运营效率成为跨政区合作的焦点。在粤港澳大湾区,通过地方政府间合作,利用国家主导投资的高速铁路基础设施新增都市圈高铁服务——深惠汕捷运,成为都市圈高速铁路供给的新模式。深惠汕捷运是在厦深铁路的基础上增设区间服务,主要服务粤港澳大湾区深莞惠都市圈的跨市交通需求。为此,以深惠汕捷运为例,系统研究这种新模式的融资过程、治理机制与运营效率,有助于理解都市圈层面高速铁路供给机制。研究表明,深惠汕捷运的本质是地方政府联合向国家购买高速铁路服务,呈现较高的融资和运营效率,其顺利实施建立在跨市交通需求增长、上级政府有效干预、地方政府间高效协商和成本共享等方面,这能为其他都市圈创新高速铁路供给提供新思路。     

BERTRAND Vs. COURNOT COMPETITION WITH UPSTREAM FIRM INVESTMENT

This paper compares Bertrand and Cournot competition in a vertical structure in which the upstream firm sets the input price and makes R&D investments. We show that from the downstream firms’ point of view, Cournot competition has the advantage of a more monopolistic effect, leading to the setting of a higher price, but has the disadvantage of inducing a lower incentive for the upstream firm to invest. On the other hand, Bertrand competition has the advantage of providing a greater incentive for the upstream firm to invest but has the disadvantage of a more competitive effect, leading to the setting of a lower price. Our main findings are as follows. First, R&D investment level is greater under Bertrand competition than under Cournot competition. Second, from the standpoint of the upstream firm and industry, Bertrand competition is more efficient than Cournot competition. Third, from the standpoint of the downstream firms, Bertrand competition is more efficient than Cournot when investment is sufficiently efficient and products are sufficiently differentiated.     

Inventory investment and financial constraints in the Italian manufacturing industry: A panel data GMM approach

Three large unbalanced panels of Italian manufacturing firms observed over the period 1991–2009 are employed to assess, by means of a dynamic GMM approach, whether the existence of financial frictions is suitable to explain deviations of inventories from their long-run path. A negative response of inventory investment to the presence of financial burdens might provide evidence of a significant role played by the financial framework in conditioning the real side of the economy, especially during recession years, when liquidity problems arise. The negative effect is found over the entire analyzed period, with firms' dimensional aspects accounting more than risk characteristics to explain the phenomenon, but the inclusion of recessionary dummies into the model leads to controversial and puzzling results. A significant recessionary effect is found during the Nineties, accounting for inventories being more sensitive to financial frictions during the main recessionary peaks, 1993 and 1996. The result is not confirmed by the most recent estimates, especially the ones referring to the 2008–2009 recessionary shock, whose effects are investigated for the first time by a paper addressing the inventory investment–financial constraints subject. Alternative hypothesis for the proposed results have been tested on data. Firms were found to rely on inventory decumulation to a lesser extent compared to the past, to generate internal financing. More specifically, disinvestments in financial assets were found to represent, as a matter of fact, one of the main drivers adopted to ease liquidity tensions: a negative and strongly significant relationship with inventory investment was detected, after controlling for short-run liquidity constraints at firm level. By contrast, only a weak negative relationship was established with fixed capital during the same recessionary biennium.     

我国创业企业研发投资经济绩效的实证研究——基于创业板上市企业的经验数据

以2009—2011年我国深圳创业板上市企业为研究对象,从会计业绩和市场业绩等角度,实证考察了其R&D投资的经济绩效。结果显示:创业企业的R&D投资整体上并未呈现出积极的经济效果;R&D投资的经济效果具有明显的行业特征,制造业创业企业的R&D投资对其经济绩效具有一定的积极影响,但该影响具有滞后性;信息技术业创业企业的R&D投资对其当期和滞后一期的经济绩效均未产生积极影响,表明信息技术业创业企业的R&D投资存在一定程度的非效率行为。     

Technology-related factors as determinants of export potential of Nigerian manufacturing firms

A critical input that enables capacity for export is investment in technology at the firm-level. Using a survey data, this study investigates technology investments by firms in Southwest Nigeria and how technology investment related factors affect the export potential of firms. Results demonstrate that investments in technology are dominated by imported technologies, investments in ICTs are becoming widespread, and technology investments are not directly targeted at improving the export potential of firms. The results also showed that firm size has a strong positive relationship with export potential, and it is the most important factor that affects the export potential of firms. The coefficient of firm size is the only parameter estimate that is consistently statistically significant at 1% level for all four export models estimated. Other technology investment related factors that impact positively on export potential include skills intensity, investment in skills upgrading, and investment in quality management.     

The cyclical behaviour of inventories: European cross-country evidence from the early 1990s recession

This paper employs data for a panel of firms from France, Italy and the UK to study the effect of the recession of the early 1990s on inventory investment, controlling for cyclical fluctuations at the firm level. The results clearly show some common patterns across countries, pointing to the relevance of financial factors (namely, the level of leverage) in propagating initial recessionary shocks. Moreover, Italian firms, especially if ‘small and young’, seem more likely to suffer from a reduction in the value of collateralizable assets possibly originated by restrictive policy actions.