Is Excess Free Cash Flow Over-Invested? Evidence from Borsa İstanbul
Abstract
In a perfect capital market, investments should not be related to cash flows of the firm. Investments
should only be determined by the amount of renewal investments required and growth opportunities
available to the firm. Contrarily, due to the conflicts of interest between the managers and the
shareholders, the theory on agency costs and free cash flow hypothesis propose that managers are
inclined to over-use free cash flow, which is in excess of value-adding investments. It is claimed that
firms invest their extra free cash flow on projects with returns below cost of capital of the firm. Some
prior studies made on the topic implied the validity of this hypothesis. In other words, firm’s resources
might be wasted by means of over-investing. This study, based on a panel data of 154 Borsa Istanbul
firms observed between 2005-2015, confirmed that firms over-invest when there is free cash flow
available in excess of growth opportunities and dividends. Prior studies have used mostly regression
models or Tobin’s q to estimate investment prospects of the firm. However, this study adopted a direct
method to estimate investment opportunities available to the firm.
Keywords
References
- ALLAYANNIS, G., and Mozumdar, A. (2004). The Impact of Negative Cash Flow and Influential Observations on Investment–Cash Flow Sensitivity Estimates. Journal of Banking and Finance, 28(5), 901-930.
- BERGSTRESSER, D. (2006). Discussion of “Overinvestment of Free Cash Flow”. Review of Accounting Studies, 11(2-3), 191-202.
- BREUSCH, T. S., and Pagan, A. R. (1980). The Lagrange Multiplier Test and Its Applications to Model Specification in Econometrics. The Review of Economic Studies, 47(1), 239-253.
- CARPENTER, R. E., and Guariglia, A. (2008). Cash Flow, Investment, and Investment Opportunities: New Tests Using Uk Panel Data. Journal of Banking and Finance, 32(9), 1894-1906.
- CHANG, S. C., Chen, S. S., Hsing, A., and Huang, C. W. (2007). Investment Opportunities, Free Cash Flow, and Stock Valuation Effects of Secured Debt Offerings. Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, 28(2), 123-145.
- CHEN, X., Sun, Y., and Xu, X. (2016). Free Cash Flow, Over-Investment and Corporate Governance in China. Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, 37, 81-103.
- DOUKAS, J. (1995). Overinvestment, Tobin’s q and Gains from Foreign Acquisitions. Journal of Banking and Finance, 19(7), 1285-1303.
- FAZZARI, S. M., Hubbard, R. G., Petersen, B. C., Blinder, A. S., and Poterba, J. M. (1988). Financing Constraints and Corporate Investment. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 1988(1), 141-195.
Details
Primary Language
Turkish
Subjects
Economics
Journal Section
Research Article
Publication Date
July 19, 2017
Submission Date
July 19, 2017
Acceptance Date
-
Published in Issue
Year 2017 Volume: 39 Number: 1
