Along with the problems of excessive capacity and declining investment returns of China’s real enterprises, more and more real enterprises are involved in the financial and real estate fields, allocating excessive financial assets, so as to obtain higher returns comparing with the main investment. The preference for virtual economy or excessive financialization will directly affect the financial status of enterprises. The existing research just involves the reasons of financial asset allocation of real business, economic consequences, and enterprise financial risk study alone. While the motivation of financial asset allocation of real enterprises is " preparing for a rainy day”, such as preventing possible financing constraints, unable to repay maturing debt and for other financial risk activities, or is " putting the cart before the horse” to seek profits, such as giving up main business investment and inhibiting innovation, there is no literature study currently. However, it is of great significance to correctly understand and effectively supervise the financialization of real enterprises, fully play the benign role of financial asset allocation, and effectively curb the disconfirmation of national economy. Based on the above, this paper selects the empirical data of China’s A-share listed companies from 2007 to 2016, and empirically tests the relationship between the total amount, term and other static dimensions of financial asset allocation and financial risks of enterprises. In general, the more financial assets a company has, the more serious financial risks it faces. Holding short-term financial assets can alleviate financial risks faced by enterprises and is manifested as the activity of " preparing for a rainy day”. Holding long-term financial assets aggravates financial risks of enterprises, which is an act of " putting the cart before the horse”. However, there is no evidence that the larger the increment of financial assets is, the easier it is to increase financial risks of enterprises. In addition, when enterprises are faced with higher financing constraints, tighter monetary policies and belong to the state-owned enterprise, the more financial asset allocation and long-term financial asset holdings they have, the easier it is to increase financial risks faced by enterprises. This paper gives three policy recommendations: (1)Real enterprises should reasonably grasp the limits of financial asset holdings based on their own free cash flow status and long-term development goals, and combined with the national macro-control policies. They should not hold too many and too-long-term financial assets due to the excessive pursuit of immediate interests. (2)When formulating the asset allocation strategy, enterprises should optimize the financial asset allocation structure and reasonably allocate the term of financial assets to better meet the capital needs of the enterprise’s main business. (3)Rational allocation of financial assets and prevention of financial risks should also take full account of the impact of financing constraints, property nature and monetary policies. The marginal contributions of this paper can be elaborated from three aspects: (1)It can further enrich relevant theories on financialization and reality-to-fiction, and provide empirical evidence and policy guidance for deepening China’s financial reform and national strategic transformation. (2)It provides necessary micro-level evidence for rational allocation of financial assets, curbing excessive financialization and preventing major systemic risks. (3)It provides necessary empirical evidence for reasonably distinguishing the financialization approach rather than blindly regarding financial asset allocation as a negative behavior. (4)It can guide enterprises to reasonably grasp the total amount, term and increment of financial asset allocation under different internal and external constraints.
/ Journals / Journal of Finance and Economics
Journal of Finance and Economics
LiuYuanchun, Editor-in-Chief
ZhengChunrong, Vice Executive Editor-in-Chief
YaoLan BaoXiaohua HuangJun, Vice Editor-in-Chief
Financial Asset Allocation and Financial Risks of Enterprises:“Precautions” or “Bartering”
Journal of Finance and Economics Vol. 44, Issue 12, pp. 100 - 112,125 (2018) DOI:10.16538/j.cnki.jfe.2018.12.008
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Cite this article
Huang Xianhuan, Wu Qiusheng, Wang Yao. Financial Asset Allocation and Financial Risks of Enterprises:“Precautions” or “Bartering”[J]. Journal of Finance and Economics, 2018, 44(12): 100-112.
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