Discovering the Link between Uncertainty and Investment - Microeconometric Evidence from Germany

We analyse empirically the effect of uncertainty on the investment decisions of a sample of quoted German firms. The uncertainty measures are constructed by employing two procedures: the conventional formula of standard deviation, and the GARCH methodology. We find that uncertainty exerts a significantly negative effect on investment, i.e. uncertainty slows down capital accumulation. We also find that this negative relationship is closely related to the degree of market power of the firm.