I develop a hypothesis that predicts nonlinear patterns of leverage and cash holdings over firms' financial flexibility (FF) demand stages. The hypothesis also predicts distinctive financing patterns over the FF demand stages. The empirical results support the hypothesis: Flexibility-building firms maintain low leverage by issuing equity in order to raise cash; flexibility-utilizing firms increase debt and use reserved cash to exercise investment options; and flexibility-recharging firms repay debt and increase cash using internal funds. The pronounced nonlinear patterns in financial decisions over the FF demand stages have important implications for previously documented empirical regularities and for future theoretical considerations.

中文翻译：

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财务灵活性需求与企业财务决策

我提出了一个假设，该假设预测了公司财务灵活性 (FF) 需求阶段的杠杆和现金持有的非线性模式。该假设还预测了 FF 需求阶段的独特融资模式。实证结果支持了这个假设：建立灵活性的公司通过发行股权来筹集现金来保持低杠杆；利用灵活性的公司增加债务并使用储备现金来行使投资选择权；和灵活充电的公司使用内部资金偿还债务和增加现金。FF 需求阶段财务决策中明显的非线性模式对先前记录的经验规律和未来的理论考虑具有重要意义。