Exploring the Determinants of Firms’ Short-Term Investment Across the GCC Countries

Abstract

This study sheds novel light on the factors influencing short-term investments made by businesses. It delves into the impact of previously unexplored variables on working capital requirements at both the firm and macroeconomic levels. These variables include equity issuance activity, corporate yields, free cash flow, retained earnings, depreciation, government oil revenue, and trade levels. The study employs a pooled Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression model on a panel dataset spanning the years 2000 to 2014. This investigation extends the existing body of knowledge regarding the determinants of corporate short-term investments in the context of a novel emerging market, specifically the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) market. The findings reveal that fluctuations in government oil revenue and trade conditions exert a significant influence on the short-term investments of service businesses in the GCC, with a stronger impact compared to their long-term investments. Considering these findings, GCC economic policymakers could consider implementing targeted interventions to bolster the resilience of service-sector firms. This could include facilitating access to financing channels less susceptible to national economic fluctuations, as well as enacting policies and programs that encourage service firms to diversify their revenue streams through increased export activity and lessened dependence on the domestic market.

Keywords

• corporate finance
• firms' short-term investments
• gulf cooperation council (gcc)
• working capital requirements