Tobin's q‐Ratio and Market Reaction to Capital Investment Announcements

There is a significant positive relation between Tobin's q‐ratio and the magnitude of stock market reaction to capital investment announcements. The findings have the following implications for capital investment theory: (i) The results provide evidence substantiating the link between the q‐ratio and real investment for industrial firms. For public utilities however, no such link exists, (ii) The study finds that average q and marginal q are correlated but the relation is somewhat more complicated than simple equality as assumed by numerous empirical studies. (iii) The findings suggest that investors can use average Tobin's q ‐ratio to identify companies with profitable real capital investment opportunities.