The Cash Flow/Investment Relationship: Evidence from U.S. Manufacturing Firms
利用托宾q的均衡水平区分信息不对称导致的流动性约束和自由现金流的过度投资，发现两种假说都能解释投资与现金流的关系，但分别适用于不同特征的企业。
This paper explores reasons for the strong relationship between cash flow and capital investment spending. The equilibrium level of Tobin's q is used to distinguish between liquidity constraints arising from asymmetric information and managerial over-investment of free cash flow. Results suggest that both the Jensen (1986) free cash flow and the Myers and Majluf (1984) pecking order hypotheses are potential explanations for the investment/cash flow relationship. Free cash flow behavior appears to arise most strongly in large, low-dividend firms when they invest in tangible assets. Pecking order behavior appears to arise in smaller, low-dividend firms and in firms making less tangible investments.