Is Cash Flow a Proxy for Financing Constraints in the Investment Equation? The Case of Unlisted Japanese Firms

The literature maintains the statistical significance of cash flow in the investment equation. One criticism against the financing constraint interpretation of cash flow is that cash flow may be picking up information on the future profitability of a firm which Tobinfs Q fails to capture. We confine ourselves to the investment behavior of unlisted automobile parts suppliers, and use the sales of large automobile makers as an exogenous instrument. Despite the various criticisms against the financing constraint interpretation of cash flow, our statistical evidence does not disagree with the hypothesis.