Investment and financing of Spanish non-financial corporations : an analysis using firm-level data

Abstract

According to the analysis conducted in this article, based on individual firms’ balance sheet information, Spanish corporate investment tended to pick up from 2014 and to do so with greater intensity at SMEs than at large corporations, after having contracted more forcefully during the early stages of the crisis at SMEs. In any event, as regards the stock of productive assets (tangibles and intangibles alike), the investment level attained in 2016 is expected to still be below pre-crisis figures. Analysis of investment determinants highlights the fact that the strength of the financial position and of profitability are positively related to business investment decisions, especially during the post-crisis period. As to the sources of financing used, firms with net positive investment resorted, throughout the period, both to own and borrowed funds, although the relative weight of the latter fell significantly from 2008. Firms investing intensively in intangibles – which were financed, until 2007, both with own and borrowed funds – began, with the onset of the crisis, to depend practically exclusively on own funds. That suggests the possible existence of greater difficulties for firms with a high concentration of intangible assets in gaining access to borrowed funds