Abstract

۱٫ Introduction

۲٫ Background

۳٫ Theoretical literature review

۴٫ Empirical literature review and hypotheses development

۵٫ Research design

۶٫ Empirical results and discussion

۷٫ Summary and conclusion

Research involving human participants and/or animals

Authors’ contribution

Data availability statement

References

Abstract

     Market capitalization and intellectual capital can be understood as two main that can play a dynamic role in multiple organizational decisions. Given that, the current study examines the role of market capitalization and intellectual capital in determining corporate investment decisions. In our empirical analysis, we use 10 years of financial information, from 2010 to 2019, for nonfinancial publicly listed corporations in three economies: China, India, and Pakistan. In our regression estimation, this study employs the panel-EGLS (estimated generalized least squares) and two-step system generalized method of moments techniques to address the problems of heteroskedasticity and endogeneity. The statistical analysis first reveals the positive significant effect of market capitalization on investment decisions because of the availability of sufficient funds for investment. It then substantiates the significant role of human capital, structural capital, and capital employed efficiency in protecting industrial investment. The empirical findings offer policy implications on how market capitalization (MC) and intellectual capital (IC) promote investment decisions.

Introduction

     Because of the high probability of investment failure, firms require strong motivation to invest in long-term projects (Cholakova & Clarysse, 2015). Firm managers derive this motivation from different factors, including financial and nonfinancial factors. These factors reduce the systemic risk of investment and lead to substantially more investment (Chaney et al., 2012). Among others, the volume of market capitalization by firms is a vital financial factor that allows them to deliberately make some investments (Armstrong & Vashishtha, 2012). Similarly, firms that are rich in intellectual capital can make more investment because they have fewer problems with information asymmetry, maximum investment efficiency, and production cost efficiency (Oppong & Pattanayak, 2019). This description eventually led to maximum investment for obtaining physical assets in the form of property, plant, and equipment (PPE), commonly called capital investment. Recognizing the importance of market capitalization and intellectual capital in the intensification of industrial investment, this study tries to answer the following research questions:

•Does market capitalization boost the investment confidence of corporate managers?

•How does intellectual capital promote managerial confidence in capital investment?

Summary and conclusion

     Firms with a high market share and more intellectual capital are more likely than other firms to employ dynamic investment strategies. These two kinds of assets—tangible (market capitalization) and intangible (intellectual capital) assets—on the balance sheets of a company can augment physical investment. Given that, our study determines the impact of market capitalization and intellectual capital on corporate decisions regarding physical investment. The empirical analysis is based on ten years of annual data on nonfinancial publicly listed firms in China, India, and Pakistan. The statistical results of panel-EGLS and system-GMM models reveal the significant and positive impact of market capitalization on industrial investment. Firms with a higher market share are more confident about physical investment because they have larger financial reserves and the capacity to withstand financial shocks. The empirical analysis then implies the positive role of all three components of intellectual capital—HCE, SCE, and capital employed efficiency—in determining industrial investment. These factors enable an enterprise to confidently engage in investment because of the availability of knowledge workers, efficiency in internal business operations, and maximum utilization capacity of their internal resources. These factors might reduce investment inefficiency and enable firms to expand the volume of investment. In summary, the empirical results confirm all the hypotheses proposed (H1, H2a, H2b, H2c), and the objective of the research is achieved. The empirical findings are consistent even after heteroskedasticity and endogeneity issues are addressed, and several firm-level and country-specific variables are controlled for.