A Direct Test of the Free Cash Flow Hypothesis: Evidence from Real Estate Transactions

Abstract

This paper tests Jensen (1986)'s free cash flow hypothesis using data on real estate transactions. We find that firms with either higher free cash flow or higher cash reserve pay more for real estate, which is consistent with the free cash flow hypothesis. We also find that the agency costs of free cash flow associated with real estate transactions are more severe when firms have lower Tobin's Q. Furthermore, we find that among the commonly used corporate governance measures, only equity compensation is effective in mitigating the agency problem of free cash flow.

Keywords: Free Cash Flow Hypothesis; Real Estate Transactions; Corporate Governance