Purpose

Financial flexibility and investment efficiency are of vital importance in strategic choices at boardrooms, particularly in post-crisis recovery strategies. This study examines the moderating effects of investment efficiency and investment scale on the relationship between financial flexibility and firm performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use sample of 10,755 US-listed firms over the period 2010–2021 to examine the relationships between investment scale, investment efficiency, financial flexibility and firm performance. Particular attention is paid to overinvestment and underinvestment.

Findings

Findings of this study reveal that financial flexibility mitigates investment inefficiency through reducing overinvestment. Financial flexibility contributes to boost a firm’s accounting and market performance. Additionally, investment efficiency and investment scale have moderating effects on the relationship between financial flexibility and firm performance. However, the influence of investment efficiency is greater than the influence of investment scale. Finally, the authors find that the direct and indirect effects of financial flexibility are stronger on market performance than accounting performance, implying that market is more sensitive to corporate financial policies.

Research limitations/implications

Findings of this study have implications for scholars, decision-makers policymakers, investors and other stakeholders.

Practical implications

This study has its own limitations due to the sample selection issues, country context and the research model adopted by this study.

Originality/value

The novel contribution to the extant literature is incorporating the influence of investment scale and investment efficiency into the relationship between financial flexibility and firm performance.

中文翻译：

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财务灵活性对企业绩效的影响：投资效率和投资规模的调节作用

目的

财务灵活性和投资效率对于董事会的战略选择至关重要，特别是在危机后复苏战略中。本研究探讨了投资效率和投资规模对财务灵活性和企业绩效之间关系的调节作用。

设计/方法论/途径

作者使用 2010 年至 2021 年期间 10,755 家美国上市公司的样本来研究投资规模、投资效率、财务灵活性和公司绩效之间的关系。特别关注投资过度和投资不足。

发现

这项研究的结果表明，财务灵活性通过减少过度投资来缓解投资低效率。财务灵活性有助于提高公司的会计和市场表现。此外，投资效率和投资规模对财务灵活性和公司绩效之间的关系有调节作用。但投资效率的影响大于投资规模的影响。最后，作者发现财务灵活性对市场绩效的直接和间接影响比会计绩效更强，这意味着市场对企业财务政策更加敏感。

研究局限性/影响

这项研究的结果对学者、决策者、投资者和其他利益相关者都有影响。

实际影响

由于样本选择问题、国情以及本研究采用的研究模式，本研究有其自身的局限性。

原创性/价值

对现有文献的新颖贡献是将投资规模和投资效率的影响纳入财务灵活性和公司绩效之间的关系中。