valued lower compared to unconstrained firms, a result also found by Faulkender and
Wang (2006). However, dividend payments are still important to investors, whether it is
made by constrained or unconstrained firms hence the high significance attached to it.
Dividends are found to have the highest influence on firm value for the entire sample
and this indicates Malaysian investors’ preference for dividends. However, because
unconstrained firms are able to secure funding easily, they are expected to payout
higher dividends and their dividend payments are valued higher.
It is found that Casht is insignificant for both groups of firms but its beta is higher
for constrained firms indicating that despite its insignificance, the contribution of the
level of cash to firm value is quite high especially for constrained firms.
On the other hand, NWC, NWCt, is found to be highly significant for constrained
firms but not for unconstrained firms. The (absolute) values assigned to the NWC of
constrained firms are higher by about twice that of unconstrained firms, confirming the
importance placed by investors on efficient working capital management as an avenue
to free up cash in order to obtain more capital for investment purposes especially for
firms facing difficulties in obtaining financing externally.
Taken altogether, the findings are consistent with Malaysian investors’ favorable
reaction to a constrained firm’s ability to increase its current cash flow through higher
earnings, higher interest payments (to save cash flow through taxes), lower dividends
(compared to constrained firms), higher liquidity via higher cash retention and lower
investment in NWC, probably in anticipation to the future investment opportunities
available to these firms since Malaysian investors’ financial priority is to “save for a
rainy day” (Fuad, 2013). For unconstrained firms, investment and debt are important
but dividends are of more importance possibly to reduce free cash flow. Therefore,
although Malaysian investors prefer to save for a rainy day, weak legal protection and
poor corporate governance environment in Malaysia (Mitton, 2002; Ming and Gee,
2008) may be the reasons for the need to reduce free cash flow to avoid agency
problems in unconstrained firms. Hence, liquidity is not as important for unconstrained
firms as is observed from the results of cash and NWC.
8. Conclusion
The high levels of investment in working capital by firms in Malaysia raises the
question of the likely impact it has on firm value. Hence, the objective of this study is to
understand the impact of working capital investment on firm value in Malaysia. Using
data from 192 firms over a period of eight years (from year 2000 to 2007), the
relationship between working capital investment and firm value is studied. Results of
multiple regression analysis show that firm value is significantly increased by
improvements in working capital management and this is particularly true for
financially constrained firms. On the other hand, working capital efficiency is not found
to improve firm value for financially unconstrained firms.
This study contributes to the scarce global literature on working capital valuation.
While most studies have valued working capital through its contribution to
profitability, this study considers its contribution to firm value, a fundamental issue in
finance and one not yet studied in the Malaysian context. The results of this study
show that investors regard investment in NWC as important in determining firm value
and prefer it to be at its minimum. Hence, managers should be aware that an avenue for
increasing firm value is efficient management of working capital. While the results are
important for managers, they are also useful for investors. It is obvious that NWC
investment does affect firm value significantly hence it is important for investors to