The Real Effects of Financial Constraints: Evidence from a Financial Crisis

38 Pages Posted: 22 Dec 2008 Last revised: 26 Dec 2009

See all articles by Murillo Campello

Murillo Campello

Cornell University - Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

John R. Graham

Duke University; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Campbell R. Harvey

Duke University - Fuqua School of Business; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Multiple version iconThere are 3 versions of this paper

Date Written: December 21, 2009

Abstract

We survey 1,050 CFOs in the U.S., Europe, and Asia to directly assess whether their firms are credit constrained during the global financial crisis of 2008. We study whether corporate spending plans differ conditional on this survey-based measure of financial constraint. Our evidence indicates that constrained firms planned deeper cuts in tech spending, employment, and capital spending. Constrained firms also burned through more cash, drew more heavily on lines of credit for fear banks would restrict access in the future, and sold more assets to fund their operations. We also find that the inability to borrow externally caused many firms to bypass attractive investment opportunities, with 86% of constrained U.S. CFOs saying their investment in attractive projects was restricted during the credit crisis of 2008. More than half of the respondents said they canceled or postponed their planned investments. Our results also hold in Europe and Asia, and in many cases are stronger in those economies. Our analysis adds to the portfolio of approaches and knowledge about the impact of credit constraints on real firm behavior.

Keywords: Financial crisis, financing constraints, investment spending, liquidity management, matching estimators

JEL Classification: G31

Suggested Citation

Campello, Murillo and Graham, John Robert and Harvey, Campbell R., The Real Effects of Financial Constraints: Evidence from a Financial Crisis (December 21, 2009). Journal of Financial Economics (JFE), Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1318355

Murillo Campello (Contact Author)

Cornell University - Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management ( email )

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John Robert Graham

Duke University ( email )

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Campbell R. Harvey

Duke University - Fuqua School of Business ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http://www.duke.edu/~charvey

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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