摘要：This paper uses a new data-set to examine how internal capital markets and
foreign ownership affect investment. Our data allow us to compare investment
behaviour of listed subsidiaries with stand-alone firms while controlling for
investment opportunities of parent and subsidiary firms. We evaluate how the
size of ownership and the geographical proximity of majority owners to their
subsidiaries affect firm investment efficiency. We find that the investment of
subsidiaries is more sensitive to investment opportunities than that of
standalone firms and falls when investment opportunities of parent firms
improve. This suggests that there are internal capital markets that reallocate
funds towards units with better investment opportunities. We find that
investment allocation is most efficient where parents have modest ownership
stakes and are distant from their subsidiaries and when subsidiaries operate in
well developed financial markets. These results indicate that influence costs
imposed by dominant parents may outweigh their potential informational benefits,
especially when subsidiaries are located in countries with weaker financial
development.
关键词：Investment, Internal Capital Markets, Foreign Ownership
