تأثیر سرمایه در گردش بر سرمایه گذاری بلندمدت بنگاه ها: شواهدی از بورس اوراق بهادار تهران (مقاله علمی وزارت علوم)
درجه علمی: نشریه علمی (وزارت علوم)
آرشیو
چکیده
بررسی اثر تأمین مالی داخلی بر سرمایه گذاری در دارایی های ثابت و روش های حفظ روند سرمایه گذاری بلندمدت برای بنگاه ها باتوجه به هزینه بربودن تغییر در روند سرمایه گذاری بلندمدت بنگاه ها و نیز دشواربودن تأمین مالی بیرونی، از اهمیت زیادی برخوردار است. این مقاله اثر سرمایه در گردش را بر سرمایه گذاری ثابت بنگاه های بورسی ایران، شامل بنگاه های دارای محدودیت مالی و بنگاه های بدون محدودیت مالی بررسی کرده است. انتظار می رود محدودیت مالی موجب کاهش روند سرمایه گذاری ثابت بنگاه ها شود. از سوی دیگر، به دلیل هزینه بربودن تغییر روند سرمایه گذاری بلندمدت، بنگاه ها به ثابت نگه داشتن روند سرمایه گذاری ثابت خود تمایل دارند و در این راستا سرمایه در گردش به دلیل قدرت نقدشوندگی بالای خود، نقش مهمی در حفظ روند سرمایه گذاری بلندمدت این چنین بنگاه ها دارد. نتایج نشان می دهد که طبق هریک از چهار معیار نشان دهنده محدودیت مالی (کاپلان و زینگالس، BNPO، پوشش بهره و سود تقسیمی)، درصورت عدم کنترل تغییر در سرمایه در گردش در رگرسیون، اثر محدودیت مالی بر سرمایه گذاری بلندمدت بنگاه ها کم برآورد می شود. با افزودن متغیر سرمایه در گردش به رگرسیون نه تنها این موضوع حل می شود، بلکه نقش سرمایه در گردش در حفظ روند سرمایه گذاری بلندمدت بنگاه ها نیز آشکار می شود. برای دو معیار کاپلان و زینگالس و سود تقسیمی، اندازه اثر سرمایه در گردش و جریان نقدی بنگاه بر سرمایه گذاری بلندمدت برای بنگاه هایی که محدودیت مالی شدیدتری دارند، بزرگ تر و معنا دارتر است؛ اما برای دو معیار دیگر، نتایج در تضاد با دو معیار قبل است.The Effect of Working Capital on Investment: Evidence from the Tehran Stock Exchange
Given the substantial adjustment costs of altering long-term investment trajectories and the difficulties in securing external financing, internal financing plays a crucial role in sustaining fixed-asset investments, especially for financially constrained firms. This study investigates the influence of working capital on fixed investment patterns among Iranian listed firms, distinguishing between financially constrained and unconstrained entities. We hypothesize that financial constraints suppress long-term investment due to firms' preference for stable capital allocation amid costly external financing barriers, with working capital serving as a liquidity buffer to mitigate such constraints and maintain investment continuity. Empirical findings demonstrate that excluding working capital fluctuations from regression models underestimates the adverse impact of financial constraints on long-term investment. Incorporating this variable not only corrects the underestimation but also highlights working capital’s stabilizing role in investment trends. For the Kaplan-Zingales and dividend payout metrics, the marginal effects of working capital and cash flow on investment are more pronounced for severely constrained firms, consistent with theoretical expectations. However, divergent results for the BNPO and interest coverage ratios suggest context-dependent interactions between financial constraints and liquidity management. These findings underscore the importance of integrating working capital dynamics into investment behavior analyses, particularly in settings with underdeveloped external financing mechanisms. Keywords: Working Capital, Fixed Investment, Financial Constraints Introduction This study examines how internal financing and working capital management influence fixed investments among Iranian listed firms, particularly those facing financial constraints. Investment is a cornerstone of firm growth, with prior research emphasizing its role in distinguishing market leaders from underperformers. In Iran, limited access to external financing—due to underdeveloped bond markets and equity issuance challenges—heightens the importance of internal funds for sustaining long-term investments. Working capital, characterized by high liquidity and flexibility, serves as a strategic buffer against cash flow volatility, enabling firms to stabilize fixed asset investments without resorting to costly external financing. While prior studies often use cash flow as a proxy for internal financing capacity, critics argue this may conflate investment demand with financial constraints. This research addresses this gap by analyzing how firms leverage working capital adjustments to mitigate financial pressures. Findings reveal that effective working capital management allows constrained firms to maintain investment continuity, offering novel insights into resource allocation strategies in emerging markets. Materials & Methods This study investigates the influence of internal financing and working capital management on fixed investments among Iranian listed firms, with a particular focus on financially constrained entities. Investment serves as a critical driver of firm growth, with extant literature highlighting its role in differentiating high-performing firms from their less competitive counterparts. In Iran, where underdeveloped bond markets and challenges in equity issuance restrict access to external financing, internal funds assume heightened importance in sustaining long-term capital expenditures. Working capital, owing to its liquidity and operational flexibility, acts as a strategic financial buffer, helping firms mitigate cash flow volatility and stabilize fixed-asset investments without relying on costly external funding. While existing studies frequently employ cash flow as a proxy for internal financing capacity, critics contend that this approach risks conflating investment demand with financial constraints. Addressing this gap, our research examines how firms strategically adjust working capital to alleviate financial pressures. The findings demonstrate that effective working capital management enables constrained firms to sustain investment continuity, providing new empirical insights into resource allocation strategies within emerging market contexts. Findings The empirical findings substantiate the pivotal role of working capital in stabilizing investments among financially constrained firms. When employing the Kaplan-Zingales (KZ) measure, constrained firms demonstrate statistically significant negative coefficients for working capital changes (-0.153 and -0.136), suggesting active utilization of working capital to buffer against cash flow volatility. The inclusion of working capital variables reveals higher cash flow coefficients, indicating that conventional models systematically underestimate internal financing's contribution to investment. Divergent patterns emerge for the BNPO index, where unconstrained firms exhibit larger coefficients - a discrepancy potentially attributable to measurement-specific characteristics. Results from the dividend payout ratio corroborate the KZ findings, further confirming constrained firms' dependence on working capital as a financial cushion. Method 3's implementation, incorporating a constraint dummy variable, robustly validates cash flow as an effective proxy for financial constraints. Importantly, the analysis reveals that both inventory adjustments and comprehensive working capital components contribute to investment stability, effectively countering prevailing critiques that ascribe these effects exclusively to inventory management practices. Discussion & Conclusion This study establishes the critical function of working capital as a financial buffer that mitigates financing constraints for Iranian firms, enabling them to maintain fixed investment levels despite limited access to external capital. The identified negative correlation between working capital adjustments and fixed investment reveals a strategic resource allocation trade-off, where firms prioritize long-term capital projects by reallocating liquid assets. These findings substantiate the validity of cash flow as an indicator of financial constraints, countering prevailing critiques that dismiss it as merely reflecting investment demand. The analysis further reveals that conventional models systematically understate internal financing's role when omitting working capital considerations, underscoring the necessity of incorporating liquidity management into investment frameworks. From a policy perspective, measures enhancing working capital flexibility—such as developing credit markets or optimizing inventory financing mechanisms—could strengthen corporate resilience in constrained environments. Future research directions should investigate industry-specific variations and the moderating effects of macroeconomic conditions on these relationships. By elucidating the interplay between liquidity management and investment decisions in financially constrained settings, this study contributes both theoretically to resource allocation literature and practically to corporate and regulatory decision-making in emerging markets.
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