Why has net corporate investment declined in OECD countries?

We look at the evolution of net corporate investment (net of capital depreciation, wear and tear and obsolescence; it is net investment that determines growth in the capital stock) in the United States, the euro zone, the United Kingdom and Japan. Net investment has fallen everywhere. What can this very bad news be attributed to? Income distribution has not skewed against earnings anywhere (on the contrary); Have earnings been increasingly used to remunerate shareholders (dividends and share buybacks)? This can be seen only in the United Kingdom; Corporate deleveraging? This can be seen after the subprime crisis in the United Kingdom and Japan; Have companies built up cash reserves at the expense of invest ment ? Large cash reserves have been accumulated in all four countries.