自由现金流下的过度投资【外文翻译】

自由现金流下的过度投资【外文翻译】本科毕业论文(设计)文翻译外原文:Over-investmentoffreecashflowAbstractThispaperexaminestheextentoffirmlevelover-investmentoffrecashflow.Usinganaccounting-basedframeworktomeasureover-investmentandfreecashflow,Ifindevidencethat,consistentwithagencycostexplanations,over-investmentisconcentratedinfirmswiththehighestlevelsoffreecashflow.Furthertestsexaminewhetherfirms’governancestructuresareassociatedwithover-investmentoffreecashflow.Theevidencesuggeststhatcertaingovernancestructures,suchasthepresenceofactivistshareholders,appeartomitigateover-investment.IntroductionThispaperexaminesfirminvestingdecisionsinthepresenceoffreecashflow.Intheory,firmlevelinvestmentshouldnotberelatedtointernallygeneratedcashflows(Modigliani&Miller,1958).However,priorresearchhasdocu-mentedapositiverelationbetweeninvestmentexpenditureandcashflow(e.g.,Hubbard,1998).Therearetwointerpretationsforthispositiverelation.First,thepositiverelationisamanifestationofanagencyproblem,wheremanagersinfirmswithfreecashflowengageinwastefulexpenditure(e.g.,Jensen1986;Stulz1990).Whenmanagers’objectivesdifferfromthoseofshareholders,thepresenceofinternallygeneratedcashflowinexcessofthatrequiredtomaintainexistingassetsinplaceandfinancenewpositiveNPVprojectscreatesthepotentialforthosefundstobesquandered.Second,thepositiverelationreflectscapitalmarketimperfections,wherecostlyexternalfinancingcreatesthepotentialforinternallygeneratedcashflowstoexpandthefeasibleinvestmentopportunityset(e.g.,Fazzari,Hubbard,&Petersen,1988;Hubbard,1998).Thispaperfocusesonutilizingaccountinginformationtobettermeasuretheconstructsoffreecashflowandover-investment,therebyallowingamorepowerfultestoftheagency-basedexplanationforwhyfirmlevelinvestmentisrelatedtointernallygeneratedcashflows.Indoingso,thispaperisthefirsttoofferlargesampleevidenceofover-investmentoffreecashflow.Priorresearch,suchasBlanchard,Lopez-di-Silanes,andVishny(1994),documentexcessiveinvestmentandacquisitionactivityforelevenfirmsthatexperiencealargecashwindfallduetoalegalsettlement,Harford(1999)findsusingasampleof487takeoverbids,thatcash-richfirmsaremorelikelytomakeacquisitionsthatsubsequentlyexperienceabnormaldeclinesinoperatingperformance,andBates(2005)findsforasampleof400subsidiarysalesfrom1990to1998thatfirmswhoretaincashtendtoinvestmore,relativetoindustrypeers.Thispaperextendsthesesmallsamplefindingsbyshowingthatover-investmentoffreecashflowisasystematicphenomenonacrossalltypesofinvestmentexpenditure.Theempiricalanalysisproceedsintwostages.First,thepaperusesanaccounting-basedframeworktomeasurebothfreecashflowandover-investment.Freecashflowisdefinedascashflowbeyondwhatisnecessarytomaintainassetsinplaceandtofinanceexpectednewinvestments.Over-investmentisdefinedasinvestmentexpenditurebeyondthatrequiredtomaintainassetsinplaceandtofinanceexpectednewinvestmentsinpositiveNPVprojects.Tomeasureover-investment,Idecomposetotalinvestmentexpenditureintotwocomponents:(i)requiredinvestmentexpendituretomaintainassetsinplace,and(ii)newinvestmentexpenditure.Ithendecomposenewinvestmentexpenditureintoover-investmentinnegativeNPVprojectsandexpectedinvestmentexpenditure,wherethelattervarieswiththefirm’sgrowthopportunities,financingconstraints,industryaffiliationandotherfactors.Undertheagencycostexplanation,managementhasthepotentialtosquanderfreecashflowonlywhenfreecashflowispositive.Attheotherendofthespectrum,firmswithnegativefreecashflowcanonlysquandercashiftheyareabletoraise“cheap”capital.Thisislesslikelytooccurbecausethesefirmsneedtobeabletoraisefinancingandtherebyplacethemselvesunderthescrutinyofexternalmarkets(DeAngelo,DeAngelo,&Stulz,2004;Jensen,1986).Consistentwiththeagencycostexplanation,Ifindapositiveassociationbetweenover-investmentandfreecashflowforfirmswithpositivefreecashflow.Forasampleof58,053firm-yearsduringtheperiod1988–2002,Ifindthatforfirmswithpositivefreecashflowtheaveragefirmover-invests20%ofitsfreecashflow.Furthermore,Idocumentthatthemajorityoffreecashflowisretainedintheformoffinancialassets.Theaveragefirminmysampleretains41%ofitsfreecashflowaseithercashormarketablesecurities.Thereislittleevidencethatfreecashflowisdistributedtoexternaldebtholdersorshareholders.Findinganassociationbetweenover-investmentandfreecashflowisconsistentwithrecentresearchdocumentingpoorfutureperformancefollowingfirmlevelinvestmentactivity.Forexample,Titman,Wei,andXie(2004)andFairfield,Whisenant,andYohn(2003)showthatfirmswithextensivecapitalinvestmentactivityandgrowthinnetoperatingassetsrespectively,experienceinferiorfuturestockreturns.Furthermore,Dechow,Richardson,andSloan(2005)findthatcashflowsretainedwithinthefirm(eithercapitalizedthroughaccrualsor“invested”infinancialassets)areassociatedwithlowerfutureoperatingperformanceandfuturestockreturns.Thisperformancerelationisconsistentwiththeover-investmentoffreecashflowsdocumentedinthispaper.Thesecondsetofempiricalanalysesexaminewhethergovernancestructuresareeffectiveinmitigatingover-investment.Priorresearchhasexaminedtheimpactofavarietyofgovernancestructuresonfirmvaluationandthequalityofmanag