中文摘要：

在尚处转型过程中的中国，政府在资源分配中具有很大的话语权，企业与政府的政治关系会对企业投资活动产生重要影响。文章研究发现，政治关系使企业拥有更多的外部融资便利，可以降低对内部资金的依赖而降低融资约束，并减少与政府的协调成本，从而提高投资效率，降低投资-现金流敏感度；制度环境作为外部治理机制会影响企业的投资效率；政治关系对企业投资的作用不受制度环境差异的影响；企业与地方政府关系对企业投资的作用要强于与非地方政府的关系。进一步研究发现，企业的政治关系和制度环境主要影响的是由于融资约束而导致的投资效率问题。

英文摘要：

During the transition period, the governments in China have great power in resources allocation, and the political connections between enterprises and the governments affect the investment activities of enterprises. The paper finds that the political connections provide more external financing convenience, loosen internal financing constraints, and reduce the coordinative costs with governments, so it can raise the investment efficiency and reduce the invest-cash sensitivity. As the external governance mechanism, the institutional environment will influence the internal investment efficiency, not the effect of political connections on the enterprise investment. The effects of the political connections between enterprises and local governments on the enterprise investment are stronger than the ones of the political connections between enterprises and non-local governments. Furthermore, the political connections and institutional environment of enterprises mainly affect the problem of investment efficiency caused by financial constraints.