Unconstrained firms Constrained firms
Independent variable Coefficient β Coefficient β
Valuet 0.5453237*** (0.0364311) 0.6789041*** (0.0528927)
Earningst 0.279074 (0.2887286) 0.0494726 1.032394** (0.3973839) 0.2378187
ΔEarningst 0.109071 (0.1249747) 0.0225195 −0.0097151 (0.1773167) −0.0029455
ΔEarningst+1 0.4095711*** (0.133675) 0.0831602 0.4561431** (0.199153) 0.1315013
ΔNetAssetst 0.1468655** (0.0658982) 0.0542064 0.0295572 (0.1438707) 0.0129399
ΔNetAssetst+1 0.267156*** (0.0675901) 0.1137543 0.2711409** (0.1116747) 0.1497597
RnDt −0.1013369 (2.909623) −0.0009356 −3.579204 (2.78942) −0.0600281
ΔRnDt 4.723101 (6.215433) 0.0098513 6.803359 (8.115966) 0.0276125
ΔRnDt+1 13.78704 (13.26642) 0.027276 5.731597 (8.441455) 0.0225068
Interestt 9.879356*** (1.170826) 0.4294204 11.00729*** (1.508593) 0.5610475
ΔInterestt −2.014756** (0.970264) −0.0389912 −2.837657 (1.882731) −0.0682397
ΔInterestt+1 8.385116*** (1.474612) 0.1531843 7.202548*** (2.715027) 0.1576336
Dividendt 13.5613*** (1.181336) 0.7116205 5.819514*** (1.407456) 0.3514431
ΔDividendt −1.435492 (1.366716) −0.0308984 −2.290532 (1.501224) −0.0620429
ΔDividendt+1 5.84265*** (1.369711) 0.1483162 2.484647* (1.400203) 0.078145
Casht 0.1770026 (0.2326952) 0.0449501 0.3011916 (0.2726363) 0.0886028
NWCt −0.1153393 (0.0889828) −0.0534145 −0.2844592** (0.1323927) −0.1697676
ΔValuet+1 −0.367934*** (0.0320238) −0.2907256 −0.403871*** (0.0675517) −0.422968
No. of observations 1,115 421
R2 0.5360 0.4364
Notes: Value is a firm’s common stock price multiplied by its shares outstanding at the end of the
fiscal year t (or its market capitalization) plus preferred stock (taken to be, in order and as available,
redemption value, liquidating value, or par value) plus total book liabilities – balance sheet deferred
taxes and investment tax credit, if available. Earnings is net income before extraordinary items plus
interest expenses. NetAssets is total assets minus cash and marketable securities minus the asset
portion of net operating working capital (i.e. accounts receivables plus inventories). RnD is research
and development expenditure. Interest is total interest payment. Dividend is the value of total dividends
paid out. Cash is the value of cash and marketable securities. NWC is the value of accounts receivables
plus inventories minus accounts payables. All variables are scaled by total book assets. ( ) represent
standard errors. *po0.10; **po0.05; ***po0.01