We review the changes in modelling strategy and econometric methodology when estimating a firm-level investment equation on panel data during the past twenty years, in order to assess which of these changes result from new estimation methods and changes in the practice of panel data...

The anemic U.S. economic recovery and the threat of a double-dip recession stem from the weakness of investment, due to excess capacity created in the euphoric years of the "new economy" bubble. The current imbalances in the corporate sector (i.e., the all-time-high indebtedness in the face of...

This paper analyzes the impact of different types of barriers on the decision to invest using a simple framework based on stochastic discount factors. Our intuitive approach proposes an alternative to the real options methodology that does not rely on the “smooth-pasting condition.” An...

This paper intends to provide empirical evidence on the interrelationship between employment and capital adjustment decisions. A fixed-effect logit model is employed to estimate this interrelationship using a data set of large Italian firms. Whereas some firms prefer to hire substantially in the...

Investment and quality decisions in common-pool networks are typically governed by rules set by a centralized agency (either a monopoly or a regulator). In network systems where competition has flourished, decentralized solutions work better than centralized ones. Rent seeking and politicization...

Data on physical capital are an indispensable part of economic growth and efficiency studies. In the case of China, economy-wide fixed asset series are usually derived by aggregating gross fixed capital formation (net of depreciation) over time, and sectoral/ownership-specific series by...

Social learning models of investment provide an interesting alternative explanation for sudden changes in investment behaviour. Caplin and Leahy (1994) develop a model of social learning in which agents learn about the true state of demand from the investment suspension decisions of other...

This paper tests for long run effects of money on real expenditures in the U.S. over the 1959-2002 period. Real consumption and investment expenditures, as well as their broadly defined components, are examined. We also test for effects of money on long run reallocations of consumption...

The role of financial institutions and corporate governance in the conduct and performance of industrial firms, especially in the area of technological innovation and international competition has been hotly debated in the recent past. The results presented here are a contribution to the...

This paper examines how the investment of financially constrained firms varies with their level of internal funds. We develop a theoretical model of optimal investment under financial constraints. Our model endogenizes the costs of external funds and allows for negative levels of internal funds....