UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS ERASMUS UNVERSITY ROTTERDAM HO CHI MINH CITY INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL STUDIES VIETNAM THE NETHERLANDS VIETNAM – THE NETHERLANDS PROGRAMME FOR M.A IN DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS “THE IMPACT OF MACROECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY ON CORPORATE INVESTMENT” THE CASE STUDY OF VIETNAM BY NGUYỄN NGỌC PHƯƠNG LINH MASTER OF ARTS IN DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY, DECEMBER 2017 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL STUDIES HO CHI MINH CITY THE HAGUE VIETNAM THE NETHERLANDS VIETNAM - NETHERLANDS PROGRAMME FOR M.A IN DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS “THE IMPACT OF MACROECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY ON CORPORATE INVESTMENT” THE CASE STUDY OF VIETNAM A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS By NGUYỄN NGỌC PHƯƠNG LINH CLASS 22 Academic Supervisor: DR. NGUYỄN THU HIỀN HO CHI MINH CITY, DECEMBER 2017 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To complete the dissertation, I received a lot of attention, help from the school, lecturers, friends and relatives. First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to Dr. Nguyen Thu Hien, who gave her heartfelt guidance, specific comments and encouragement throughout my thesis’s implemented process.
Special thank goes to Mr. Nguyen Thanh Vinh for his supports in analyzing the data. Sincerely I appreciate lecturers teaching Vietnam – the Netherlands programme for M. in Development Economics who have conveyed valuable knowledge, practical experience for me during the study program.
Finally, it is pleased to thank my friends and family for their support and encouragement throughout the course of my dissertation. Ho Chi Minh City, December 2017 Performer NGUYỄN NGỌC PHƯƠNG LINH i TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ABSTRACT Employing proxies of macroeconomic uncertainty of Baum et al. (2005), I am based on the proposed empirical model of Gulen and Ion (2015) to examine how corporate capital investment is affected by macroeconomic uncertainty for enterprises of Vietnam in the period of 2005 and 2015. My estimates present that the research has strongly explained a negative relationship between the volatility of macroeconomic in real GDP, CPI and the activities of capital expenditures in general as well as mergers and acquisitions in particular.
More importantly, this effect is significantly stronger for firms with a higher growth rate and non – financial constraints. Overall, the study contributes to confirming macroeconomic uncertainty to limit the investment of enterprises and subsequently depress Vietnam economic growth. JEL classifications: E20, E22, E44, E60, E63, G30, G32, G34 Key words: corporate investment, mergers and acquisitions, macroeconomic uncertainty, ARCH (GARCH), financial constraints, growth potential. ii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com COMMITMENT I pledge that the contents of this dissertation conducted under the direct guidance of Dr.
Nguyen Thu Hien. All references in the dissertation are clearly quoted in the name of the author, the name of the work, the time and place of publication. Any unauthorized copying, violation of training regulations, or fraud, I will take full responsibility. Ho Chi Minh City, December 2017 Performer NGUYỄN NGỌC PHƯƠNG LINH iii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .iii TABLE OF CONTENTS.
vi FIGURES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. Research objects and scopes. The relationship between macroeconomic uncertainty and investment. Factors impacting on the investment of enterprises.
Impact of macroeconomic uncertainty on corporate investment. Robustness check-sub-sample categories. Suggested models and hypotheses. 28 iv TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.
Variables for categorizing subsamples. Measuring macroeconomic uncertainty. The link between macroeconomic uncertainty and corporate investment. Results for all firms.
MU1 – GDP and corporate investment. MU1 – GDP and capital expenditure proxy. MU1 – GDP and mergers and acquisitions proxy. MU2 – CPI and corporate investment.
MU2 – CPI and capital expenditure proxy. MU2 – CPI and mergers and acquisitions proxy. Results for firms classification. MU1 – GDP and capital expenditure regarding growth potential.
MU1 – GDP and capital expenditure regarding financial constraints. MU2 – CPI and capital expenditure regarding growth potential. MU2 – CPI and capital expenditure regarding financial constraints. 58 v TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com TABLES Table 2.1: Expectation of the relationship between macroeconomic uncertainty and corporate investment………….1: Augmented Dickey – Fuller Unit Root Test for MU proxies.2: The time series results of variables representing macroeconomic uncertainty .5: Results of regression model of MU1GDP on CAPEX.6: Results of regression model of MU1GDP on M&A .7: Results of regression model of MU2CPI on CAPEX .8: Results of regression model of MU2CPI on M&A .9: Impact of MU1GDP on CAPEX regarding growth potential .10: Impact of MU1GDP on CAPEX regarding financial constraints .11: Impact of MU2CPI on CAPEX regarding growth potential .12: Impact of MU2CPI on CAPEX regarding financial constraints.
48 vi TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com FIGURES AND ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1.1: The criterion of Maastricht Treaty of Vietnam .2: Real GDP growth in Vietnam, advanced economies, emerging and developing economies, and the world.3: The proportion of inflation and the growth of investment of Vietnam .4: Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) of Vietnam .1: Framework of the relationship between macroeconomic uncertainty and corporate investment……. 25 vii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ABBREVIATIONS CAPEX Capital Expenditure CAPEXTA Capital Expenditure to Total Assets CAPX Capital Investment CF Cash Flow CFTA Cash Flow to Total Assets CPI Consumer Price Index EU European Union FC Financial Constraints FE Fixed Effect GDP Gross Domestic Product HNX Ha Noi Stock Exchange HOSE Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange IMF International Monetary Fund MADUMMY Merges and Acquisitions Dummy MU Macroeconomic Uncertainty NFC Non – Financial Constraints OLS Ordinary Least Square PU Policy Uncertainty RE Random Effect SG Sales Growth TA Total Assets TQ Tobin’s Q UK United Kingdom UPCOM Unlisted Public Company Market US United States WTO World Trade Organization viii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail. Background Stable and long – term sustainable growth is what many domestic and foreign economists recommend and become one of the most strategic objectives that every nation puts so much attempt to move towards. In such a purpose, the impact of macroeconomics is an intense concern that interests a great number of researchers, policymakers, investors and portfolio managers of businesses.
Volatility of macroeconomics plays important role to affect most sectors of economy and lead to the adjustments of economic growth as well as the production process of enterprises. More specifically, macroeconomic uncertainty can be attributable to be related to short – term fluctuations in macroeconomic variables such as gross domestic product (GDP), inflation, budget deficits and current accounts. In addition to other impacts, the volatility of macroeconomics may undermine long – term growth potential due to declining confidence and willingness to invest. The notion of macroeconomic uncertainty has not been completely integrated between the studies.
Thereby macroeconomic instability is understood as a circumstance of economic malaise where the economy does not seem to have remained stable and where, eventually, something needs to be done for dragging it back on track (Azam, 2001). According to Hausman and Gavin (1996), macroeconomic stabilization requires ensuring three factors in one economy composing growth, investment and labor productivity. Other works in the field include the research of Fischer (1993), Bleaney (1996) and Ismihan et al. (2002), who all take related approaches that an increasing macroeconomic uncertainty means a rise in one of the indexes that would hold inflation rate, deficit to GNP ratio and foreign debt to GNP ratio.
Meanwhile, Sameti et al. (2012) also argue that macroeconomic uncertainty is assessed by the volatility of a set of macroeconomic variables which are growth, inflation, current balance deficit, foreign exchange reserves and budget deficits. In general, it can be primarily unified that macroeconomic uncertainty is a concept that describes the deterioration of important macroeconomic variables in the economy, manifested and monitored over time through a combination of these variables such as growth, inflation, current account deficit, foreign exchange reserves, external debt and budget deficits. These aforesaid indexes are serious drivers of economic growth.
1 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com In terms of the criteria of the Maastricht Treaty (or so – called convergence criteria) by the EU Member States in 1991, macroeconomic stability is measured by five indicators as follows: The first is a low and stable inflation. A high or unstable inflationary effect threatens economic growth and increases the risk premium. Since many types of rates are adjusted for inflation, then the volatility of inflation may alter Government revenues and personal debt. The highest inflation rate under the Maastricht criteria is 3 percent.
The second is to stay a low level of long – term interest rates. This indicator reflects a stable inflation expectation in the future. Although the current inflation rate is low, high long – term interest rates suggest that inflation may rise in the nearly time. Holding low interest rates manifests that the economy is stabilizing and may continue to be so stable.
The highest degree of long – term interest rate based on the Maastricht Treaty makes up about 9%. National debt to GDP ratio is the next criteria to adapt thereby the low level displays that the Government has the flexibility to employ tax revenues so as to meet domestic capital needs rather than repay foreign creditors. In addition, a low national debt also allows lenient use of fiscal policy in the face of crisis and 60 percent is the highest approval of national debt to GDP ratio according to the convergence criteria. Besides, budget deficit has to be remained low.
Regarding the criteria of the Treaty of Maastricht, the budget deficit at 3 percent of GDP is acceptable. And finally, currency stabilization is the policy – oriented objective. Currency stabilization allows imports and exports to develop in line with long – term strategies and to minimize exchange rate risk for investors. As the criteria of the convergence criteria, the euro has the highest fluctuation band of 2.
2 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com Criteria of the Maastricht Treaty of Vietnam 70 (% per year) 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Government budget Government debt to GDP Interest rate Inflation rate Figure 1.1: The criterion of Maastricht Treaty of Vietnam (Source: IMF, Worldbank and General Statistics Office) Thus, based on the criteria of the Maastricht Treaty, Vietnam economy was facing macroeconomic uncertainty in the considered period of time. Inflation was under pressure according to the General Statistics Office. The highest inflation rate was marked in 2008 with 23.1% due to the global crisis. In 2011, CPI rose by 18.7% compared to the end of 2010.
As can be seen, the rate of inflation has been serious and gradually declined more recently through the management and adjustment of policymakers. Interest rates were also high, along with rising exchange rate pressures, high and prolonged budget deficits, high national debt. Since 2008, interest rates have been fluctuating with the ups and downs of the economy. Basically, interest rates increased sharply between 2009 and 2011 with a peak level of 17% per year owing to high inflation.
By the end of 2010, the national debt accounted for 48.1% of GDP, increased by 3% compared to 2009 and presented by an upward trend to 2015 at 57. As is shown by the graph, Vietnam has had a continuous budget deficit in the last 11 years with the rate above 5%. This deficit is the highest in comparison with other countries in the region of South East Asia. All criterion displayed in Figure 1.1 generally exceed the acceptable level of the Maastricht Treaty and then demonstrate a circumstance of macroeconomic uncertainty in Vietnam on the assumed period.
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