Policy Heterogeneity in Empirical Corporate Finance

Abstract

Standard econometric methods can overlook the issue of heterogeneity in corporate policy making, generating biased estimates. We propose ways to identify and address the firm policy heterogeneity bias in practice. In doing so, we introduce a new test determining whether standard firm-fixed effects estimations are subject to heterogeneity biases in corporate applications. Examining investment models to showcase our approach, we show that heterogeneity bias-robust methods identify cash flow as a more important driver of investment than previously reported. Our study demonstrates analytically, via simulations, and empirically the importance of carefully accounting for firm heterogeneity in drawing conclusions about corporate policy.