Đầu tư tài chính tại các doanh nghiệp phi tài chính ở Việt Nam: Hiệu ứng lấn át hay nhu cầu linh hoạt tài chính?

Abstract

This study investigates the mechanisms underlying the sustained increase in financial assets held by non-financial corporations in Vietnam, with the aim of examining whether this trend reflects a crowding-out effect on fixed asset investment or instead results from dynamic adjustments in capital allocation driven by financial flexibility needs. Using panel data on 1,156 non-financial corporations over the period 2013–2023 and employing the local projections method combined with heteroskedasticity-based instrumental variables, the study finds that the accumulation of financial assets does not lead to a persistent decline in investment in fixed assets. Rather, shocks to financial flexibility increase financial investment in the short run and temporarily slow down fixed asset investment, but this effect reverses in the medium run as firms reallocate capital toward real investment. Further analysis shows that financial investment is associated with higher leverage rather than increased cash holdings, indicating the presence of a “reallocation–refinancing” mechanism that explains the sustained accumulation of financial assets. Under this mechanism, financial assets enhance firms’ borrowing capacity, debt financing supports fixed asset investment, and the resulting cash flows are subsequently used to deleverage and restore financial flexibility.