The Impact of Liquidity and Investment Opportunity on Investment Decisions Moderated by Financial Constraints

Information asymmetry between managers and financial institutions, the agency problem and conflict of interest between managers and shareholders, has significantly affected investment decisions. Liquidity, investment opportunities, and financial constraints influence optimal investment decisions and play an important role in improving and promoting them. Due to the existing constraints, companies have to be more sensitive to investment and emphasize cash flow when making investment decisions. In this study, we examine the effect of liquidity sensitivity and investment opportunity on investment decisions between companies with and without financial constraints. Restriction on financing is one of the factors affecting the sensitivity of investment cash flows, which causes the entity to lack resources and is an obstacle to financing all desirable investments. companies without Restriction make easy decisions about how to invest and are less sensitive to external resources. But financially constraints companies do not seem attractive because they do not have enough credit for lending institutions. Therefore, they have to be more sensitive to investment and emphasize cash flow during making decisions. 

We define companies without financial constraints and with financial constraints by using a new and different approach, through dividend policy, cash flow, investment opportunity and debt (leverage), in four stages. In the first stage, companies with low dividends are classified as companies with financial constraints and companies with high dividends are nonfinancial constraints. In the second stage, companies that have higher cash flows than the average sample are divided into companies with nonfinancial constraints and companies with lower cash flows, as companies with financial constraints. In the next step, companies with financial constraints are examined in terms of investment opportunities using the book value criterion to the market. If the book-to-market ratio is less than the average of the sample, they fall into the category of nonfinancial constraint, and if it is above the average, the company has the financial constraint. Finally, companies with low debt ratios are classified as nonfinancial constraints and other with high debt ratios in groups with financial constraints. Therefore, if companies pay dividends, have high cash flow, book to market ratio and low debt, they are classified as nonfinancial constraints, and if they do not pay dividends, low cash flow, book to market ratio and high debt, are classified as financially constrained. The statistical sample in this research includes companies that are members of the Tehran Stock Exchange from 2012 to 2019. By using the limitations of the study, 189 companies were surveyed, which includes a total of 1,512 observations. Multivariate regression has been used to investigate the effect of liquidity and investment opportunity with the moderating role of financial constraints on investment. The independent variables of this research are liquidity and investment opportunity. Liquidity is calculated through the company's cash flows and investment opportunity is calculated through the book value to the market. It is also an investment dependent variable that is obtained through net capital expenditures through the difference in fixed assets in year t minus fixed assets in last year. Variables are divided into fixed assets to control the different effects of the firm scale. The moderator variable is financial constraint, which is divided into two parts, companies with financial constraints and nonfinancial constraints. 

The positive impact of liquidity and investment opportunities on investment decisions reflects the interdependence between financing and investment decisions. On the other hand, if there is a profitable investment opportunity, the manager tries to use it to maximize the wealth of shareholders, which leads to an increase in the value of the company. Therefore, a more profitable investment opportunity will lead to more investment.The greater impact of liquidity on the investment decisions of companies with financial constraints compared to companies without financial constraints is due to the lack of information asymmetry for external financing. Thus, external financing is a more expensive debt than internal, which allows companies with less financial constraints to access external sources of financing. Therefore, investment decisions for companies with financial constraints are more sensitive to liquidity.The greater impact of investment opportunities on the investment decisions of companies without financial constraints compared to companies with financial constraints is that prior have easier access to external capital markets. Therefore, they easily adapt financing sources to investments and have more financial flexibility. As a result, companies with financial constraints are more sensitive to investment opportunities in their investment decisions. 

Liquidity and investment opportunity have a positive effect on investment decision which is adjusted by financial constraints. The decision to invest in companies with financial constraints is more sensitive to liquidity than companies without financial constraints, and this is the opposite of the investment opportunity. Resource constraints and liquidity sensitivity affect corporate investment. Liquidity and investment decisions are interrelated, which are moderated by financial constraints. In this study, it was observed that liquidity and investment opportunities have a positive effect on investment decisions; therefore, there is a correlation between financing and investment decisions. On the other hand, if there is a profitable investment opportunity, the manager tries to use it to maximize the wealth of shareholders, which leads to an increase in the value of the company; Therefore, a more profitable investment opportunity will lead to more investment. In addition, liquidity has a greater impact on the investment decisions of companies with financial constraints than nonfinancial constraints companies. This event is due to information asymmetry for external financing; Thus, external financing is a more expensive debt than internal financing, which allows companies with less financial constraints to access external sources of financing. Investment decisions are more sensitive to liquidity for companies with financial constraints. Finally, investment opportunities have a greater impact on the investment decisions of companies nonfinancial constraints than companies with financial constraints. This is because companies without financial constraints have easier access to external capital markets; therefore, they easily adapt financing sources to investments and have more financial flexibility. As a result, companies with nonfinancial constraints are more sensitive to investment opportunities in their investment decisions.