Highlighting Differences in Cash Flow from Investing Activities and Capital Adequacy Ratio Relationship between Indonesian and Malaysian Commercial Banks

This study compares the impact of Cash Flow from Investing Activities (CFI) on the Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) between Indonesian and Malaysian commercial banks. The study uses time-series data from the countries' big-five banks from 2009 to 2013. This study engages the regression model to measure the CFI's impact on CAR and then applies a Chow test to compare the discrete regression output between the two countries. The statistical tests reveal that the CFI of Indonesian banks correlated negatively with the CAR, while Malaysian banks showed a positive correlation. Consistent with the correlations, the influence of CFI on CAR in both countries is equally significant. By a Chow test, this study concluded that the CFI's impact on CAR significantly differs between the banks in the countries. From the literature perspective, the CFI and CAR relationship of Malaysian banks is closer to the findings of previous detached studies. The figures indicate that nowadays, Malaysian banking harvests cash inflow from their past investments. Otherwise, the Indonesian banks portray the ongoing spending for long-term investment during the recent five years. This preference results in a consistent decrease in CFI when the CAR moves upward. Departing from the existing differences, to optimize the CFI and CAR relationship, this study suggests the CFI and CAR equilibrium formulation for banks to avoid cash shortages and failure to earn interest due to capital buffer retaining to maintain a high ratio of capital adequacy.