The Effect of Debt Financing on Capital Investment Decisions Based on Mental Accounting Theory

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Associate Prof., Department of Accounting, Faculty of Social Sciences and Economics, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran.

2 Assistant Prof., Department of Accounting, Faculty of Social Sciences and Economics, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran.

3 Ph.D., Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Objective: The weaknesses of economic theories in explaining individual judgment and decision making (JDM) has led to the development of psychological theories. Our paper examines the effect of past debt financing (for purchasing an asset) on managers’ decisions about keeping or replacing an asset. We also study the possibility of costly decision errors in the case of using mental accounting by managers.
Methods: We have used an experimental method applying two 2×2 between subjects factorial designs. Our experiment manipulates debt magnitude and debt security. Dependent variables for two factorial designs, are participants’ capital investment decision and past benefit perception. To explore the role of “past benefit perception" variable, as a mediator, between the unpaid principal and the capital investment decision, the regression patterns of Baron and Kenny (1986) have been used. Participants consist of 80 students and professionals assigned to one of four groups through random assignment.
Results: Our results suggest that greater unpaid principal causes managers to be more reluctant to part with the asset. As the unpaid principal decreases, individuals’ willingness to replace the asset increases. We also find that participants' perceptions about the past benefits realized from the asset mediate the relation between the unpaid principal balance and participants' investment decision. So, individuals’ reluctance to dispose the asset in the case of high level of unpaid principal is related to the past benefits perceptions. In addition, our findings show that the level of security has no effect on manages’ capital investment decision. From a cognitive perspective, the onerous thought of a large lump sum principal payment (when the debt is secured) or an ongoing stream of future debt service payments (when the debt is unsecured) without any matching benefits appears to overwhelm the economic benefits of replacing the machine.
Conclusion: Our study shows that a psychological factor may cause managers to forego investments that they should invest according to the capital budgeting techniques. This cognitive bias arised from the formation of mental accounts reduces JDM quality. Being aware of such cognitive biases contributed to the accounting literature through providing valuable information for capital budgeting studies. It is highly recommended that affiliated Finance, Business and Accounting faculties allocate specific modules in mental accounting and related cognitive biases for post graduate students. In terms of future research directions, it is recommended to study the effect of different debasing techniques such as instruction on the JDM quality in future research

Keywords


Ahn, S. (2006). Leverage and investment in diversified firms. Journal of Financial Economics, 79 (2): 317-337.
Albdin, S., Farooq, O., Sultana, N., Farooq, M. (2017). The impact of heuristics on investment decision and performance: Exploring multiple mediation mechanisms. Research in International Business and Finance, 42, 674-688.
Bakara, S., Chui Yia, A. N. (2016). The Impact of Psychological Factors on Investors’ Decision Making in Malaysian Stock Market: A Case of Klang Valley and Pahang. Procedia Economics and Finance, 35, 319 – 328.
Banerjee, P., Chatterjee, P., Mishra, S., Mishra, A. (2019). Loss is a loss, why categorize it? Mental accounting across cultures. Journal of consumer behavior, 18(2), 77-88.
Bazerman, M. H., Moore, D. A. (2009). Judgment in Managerial Decision Making, (A. Sarzaeem, Trans). Tehran, Aryanaghalam. (in Persian)
Beasley, M S., Buckless, F A., Glover, S M., and Prawitt, D F. (2014). Auditing Cases: An Interactive Learning Approach (Sixth Edition), Pearson.
Berger, A., Black, L. (2011). Bank size, lending technologies, and small business finance. Journal of Banking and Finance, 35(3), 724-735.
Berk, J. and DeMarzo, P. (2007). Corporate Finance. Boston, MA: Pearson Addison-Wesley.
Blocher, E., Stout, D., Cokins, G., Chen, K. (2008). Cost management: A Strategic Emphasis (4th edition). McGraw-Hill Irwin, New York, NY.
Bloomfield, R., Anderson, A. (2010). Experimental Finance. Johnson School Research Paper Series No. 23-2010, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1596871.
Bodnaruk, A., Simonov, A. (2015). Do financial experts make better investment decisions? Journal of financial intermediation, 24(4), 514-536.
Bolton, L., Alba, J. (2012). When less is more: consumer aversion to unused utility. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 22(3), 369–383.
Bonner, S. (2008). Judgment and decision making in accounting. (1st edition). Pearson prentice hall.
Cherono, I. (2020). Investor Behavior and Stock Market Reaction in Kenya. European Journal of Economic and Financial Research, 4(2), 89-127.
Clancy, D.K. and Collins, D. (2014). Capital Budgeting Research and Practice: The State of the Art. Advances in Management Accounting, 24, 117-16.
Fay, R. G., Montague, N. R. (2015). Witnessing Your Own Cognitive Bias: A Compendium of Classroom Exercises. Issues in Accounting Education, 30 (1), 13–34.
Ferrara, W. (1966). Should investment and financing decisions be separated? Accounting Review, 41(1), 106-114.
Garrison, R., Noreen, E. (2003(. Managerial Accounting, 10th edition. McGraw-Hill Irwin, New York, NY.
Graham, J., and Harvey, C. )2001(. The theory and practice of corporate finance: Evidence from the field. Journal of Financial Economics, 60 (2-3), 187-243.
Heath, C., Fennema, M. (1996). Mental Depreciation and Marginal Decision Making. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 68(2), 95-108.
Hirst, E., Joyce, E. and Schadewald, M. (1994). Mental accounting and outcome contiguity in consumer-borrowing decisions. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 58, 136-152.
Jackson, S., Keune, T., Salzsieder, L. (2013). Debt, Equity, and Capital Investment. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 56(s 2–3), 291–310.
Jordao, A. R., Costa, R., Dias, Álvaro L., Pereira, L., & Santos, J. P. (2020). Bounded rationality in decision making: an analysis of the decision-making biases. Business: Theory and Practice, 21(2), 654-665.
Larry, B. C. (1991). Experimental Methodology, (A, Delavar, Trans). Tehran. Roshd.
(in Persian)
Mayers, A. (2013). Introduction to Statistics and SPSS in Psychology. Bournemouth University.
Metawa, N., Hassan, M.K., Metawa, S., Safa, M.F. (2018). Impact of behavioral factors on investors’ financial decisions: case of the Egyptian stock market. International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, 6-27.
Moshiri, E., Jalili, A. (2009). Mental Accounting: New Challenge on Financial Management Classic Models. Management accounting, 2(2), 37-49. (in Persian)
Muehlbacher, S., & Kirchler, E. (2019). Individual Differences in Mental Accounting. Frontiers in psychology, 10, 2866, 1-15.
Nikomaram, H., Jalili, A., Rahnamay Roodposhti, F. (2012). Conceptual Model for Behavioral. Management accounting and auditing knowledge, 1(1), 55-72.
Nofsingera, J. R., Varmab, A. (2013). Availability, Recency and Sophistication in the Repurchasing Behavior of Retail Investors. Journal of Banking & Finance, 37(7), 2572–2585.
Okada, E. (1999). Trade-ins, mental accounting, and product replacement decisions. Dissertation for the degree of doctor of philosophy. University of Pennsylvania.
Okada, E. (2001). Trade-ins, mental accounting, and product replacement decisions. Journal of Consumer Research 27, 433-446.
Parsaei, M., Molanazari, M. (2019). The role of mental accounting in Capital Budgeting decisions. Management accounting, 12(41), 1-18. (in Persian)
Prelec, D., Loewenstein, G. (1998). The red and the black: mental accounting of savings and debt. Marketing science, 17(1), 4-28.
Rosnani, S., Abdul Rakhman, L., Nurdjanah, H and Mursalim N. (2020). Determinant of Investor Behavior of Investment Decisions in Makassar College Student Investors. American International Journal of Business Management, 3(6), pp 40-48.
Santosa, P. W. (2020). The moderating role of firm size on financial characteristics and Islamic firm value at Indonesian equity market. Business: Theory and Practice, 21(1), 391-401.
Serfas, S. (2011). Cognitive biases in the capital investment context. Gabler Verlag. Springer fechmedien Wiesbadan GmbH 2011. 1st edition.
Shefrin, H. M., & Thaler, R. H. (1988). The behavioral life-cycle hypothesis. Economic Inquiry, 26, 609-643.
Smith, C., Warner, J., (1979). On financial contracting: an analysis of bond covenants. Journal of Financial Economics, 7 (2), 117–161.
Thaler, R. (1980). Toward a positive theory of consumer choice. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 1, 39-60.
Thaler, R. (1985). Mental Accounting and Consumer Choice, Marketing Science, 4(3), pp 199-214.
Thaler, R. (1999). Mental accounting matters. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 12, 183-206.
Tversky, A., Kahneman, D. (1974). Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases. Science, New Series, 185(4157), 1124-1131.
Valiyan, H., Abdoli, M., Gerayli, M., Ghilichi, J. (2019). Explaining the Model of Mental Accounting for the Selection of Portfolios of Shares of Companies in the Tehran Stock Exchange with Investment Horizon Approach. Financial Knowledge of Securities Analysis, 12(43), 89-107. (in Persian)
Yalcin, K.C., Tatoglu, E., Zaim, S. (2016). Developing an instrument for measuring the effects of heuristics on investment decisions. Kybernetes, 45(7), 1052-1071.
Zhang, C. Y., and Sussman, A. B. (2018). The role of mental accounting in household spending and investing decisions, Client Psychology, New York: Wiley, Chicago Booth Research Paper, 19(7), 65-96.
Zhang, C. Y., Sussman, A. B. (2018). Perspectives on mental accounting: An exploration of budgeting and investing. Financial Planning Review, 1(1-2), e1011.
Zimmerman, J. (2003). Accounting for Decision Making and Control. 4th edition. McGraw-Hill, NY.