Is there a right time for corporate investment?

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine whether corporate investment in real fixed assets in hot issue markets leads to higher income to shareholders than that in other equity market conditions. Design/methodology/approach – The authors address the research question in two steps: first, the authors identify how security issuances in hot and cold issue markets influence corporate investment decisions. Second, the authors examine how debt- and equity-financed investments in two different market conditions affect future holding period returns. The sample includes an unbalanced panel data set consisting of all non-financial and non-utility US companies from 1973 to 2006. The authors apply both firm- and industry-level fixed effect methods to estimate the coefficients of two separate empirical models. Findings – The authors find that equity issuances increase firms' capital investments in hot issue markets. These equity-financed investments in hot equity markets result in higher returns to shareholders compared to those in other market conditions. Therefore, there exists a window of opportunity for firms to issue new equities and make investments, which in turn improve shareholders' wealth. Practical implications – The findings convey a critical message to corporate managers about the right timing of equity-financed capital investments. Originality/value – While earlier research focuses on determining a specific equity market condition that favours new issuances, this paper determines a particular equity market condition when firms typically choose value-enhancing equity-backed projects for investment.