Leverage and investment under a state-owned bank lending environment : evidence from China

Document Type

Journal article

Source Publication

Journal of Corporate Finance

Publication Date

12-1-2008

Volume

14

Issue

5

First Page

642

Last Page

653

Publisher

Elsevier BV

Keywords

Capital structure, Investment, State ownership of banks and firms, China

Abstract

This study examines the relations between leverage and investment in China's listed firms, where corporate debt is principally provided by state-owned banks. We obtain three major findings. First, there is a negative relation between leverage and investment. Second, the negative relation between leverage and investment is weaker in firms with low growth opportunities and poor operating performance than in firms with high growth opportunities and good operating performance. Third, the negative relation between leverage and investment is weaker in firms with a higher level of state shareholding than in firms with a lower level of state shareholding. Overall, our results are consistent with the hypothesis that the state-owned banks in China impose fewer restrictions on the capital expenditures of low growth and poorly performing firms and also firms with greater state ownership. This creates an over-investment bias in these firms.

DOI

10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2008.08.002

Print ISSN

09291199

E-ISSN

18726313

Publisher Statement

Copyright © Journal of Corporate Finance

Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.

Full-text Version

Publisher’s Version

Language

English

Recommended Citation

Firth, M., Lin, C., Liu, P., & Wong, S. M. L. (2008). Leverage and investment under a state-owned bank lending environment: Evidence from China. Journal of Corporate Finance, 14(5), 642-653. doi: 10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2008.08.002

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