This paper investigates whether the impact of financing constraints on company investment spending differs between firms in Belgium, France, Germany and the UK. Many previous studies have found that investment spending displays "excess sensitivity to cash flow" for individual countries, and...

This paper tests for the importance of cash flow on investment in fixed capital and R&D using firm-level panel data in two countries between 1985 and 1994. For German firms, cash flow is not informative in simple econometric models of fixed investment or R&D. In identical pecifications for...

In this paper we consider estimation of the autoregressive error components model. When the autoregressive parameter is moderately large and the number of time series observations is moderately small, the usual Generalised Methods of Moments (GMM) estimator obtained after first differencing has...

Cobb Douglas production function parameters are not identified from cross-section variation when inputs are perfectly flexible and chosen optimally, and input prices are common to all firms. We consider the role of adjustment costs for inputs in identifying these parameters in this context. The...

We consider to what extent the empirical failings of the Q model of investment can be attributed to the use of share prices to measure average q. We show that the usual empirical formulation may fail to identify the Q model when stock market valuations deviate from the present value of expected...

This paper considers the relationship between two general neutral business tax structures, which we label the Ѧirm tax' and the ѳhareholder taxҮ The well-known R-based and S-based cash flow taxes, analysed by Meade (1978), are special cases of these two taxes. We demonstrate the...

Evidence that cash flow has a significant effect on company investment spending, after controlling for Tobin's average Q, has often been interpreted as suggesting the importance of financing constraints. Recent work on measurement error in the Q model casts doubt on this interpretation. It is...

In this paper we examine the properties of a simple criterion-based, likelihood ratio type test of parameter restristions for standard GMM estimators in autoregressive panel data models. A comparison is made with recent test proposals based in the continuously-updated GMM criterion (Hansen,...

This paper contrasts Samuelson's (1964) definition of "true economic depreciation" with the use of this term that has become standard in the more recent literature on neutral business taxes. Samuelson defined "economic depreciation" to be the change in the economic value of an asset, whilst the...

We present empirical evidence which suggests that a big increase in dividend taxation for UK pension funds in July 1997 affected the form in which some UK companies chose to make dividend payments, but otherwise had limited effects on both the level of dividend payments and the level of...