An Econometric Analysis of Energy Financing

Abstract

This study examines the interdependencies of the dividend, investment, liquidity, and financing decisions of public utility firms during the 1974-1979 period and develops a multiple-criteria financial planning model of a public utility firm. The evidence on the perfect markets hypothesis that the dividend, investment, and new debt decisions of firms are interdependent is mixed. The perfect markets hypothesis is tested using a sample of public utility firms because utility firms pay very high dividends (relative to stock prices) and engage in large capital expenditures (relative to assets) compared with manufacturing firms.