Corporate hedging, financial structure and investment. A theoretical and empirical investigation on the use of derivative financial instruments by non financial companies

The literature on corporate risk management has paid little attention to connecting the decisions of firms about financial capital structure with decisions about real output. This book contributes to bridging this gap by investigating the use of derivative financial instruments by non financial companies. The theoretical contribution derives two models of corporate hedging to show how optimal investment, debt, and hedging strategy may be strongly dependent on the mechanism linking the firm’s internal funds to its return on investment. The empirical work provides evidence on the determinants of corporate hedging in the UK, using a dataset built on available non-survey data. Based on the theoretical implications of this work, an empirical analysis of investment-debt sensitivity is carried out to identify how risk management affects investment and debt decisions. This book is especially useful to academic researchers, professionals and anyone who is interested in understanding and comparing the wide variety of motivations, financial tools and strategies available to non financial firms to manage risks.