Investment committees and corporate cash holdings

We investigate the association between the voluntary formation of a board investment committee (IC) and corporate cash holdings for a large sample of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) firms over the 2005–2013 period. We provide evidence that the existence of a specialized IC increases corporate cash holdings. We also find that several IC characteristics, i.e., member experience, independence, number of meetings, and committee size, are associated with an increase in firms’ cash holdings. Furthermore, the local and foreign institutional ownership of GCC firms moderates the IC-cash holdings relationship. These results remain robust to alternative specifications of cash holdings and endogeneity tests. We contribute to the literature on firms’ incentives to hold cash and to the literature on governance in emerging market contexts.     

Narcissistic leaders and corporate cash Holdings: Evidence in China

We use a sample of Chinese firms listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong over the period 2007–2018 to examine the relationship between narcissistic leadership and corporate cash holdings. We find that narcissistic leaders seek to attract public attention and promote self-image by overinvestments that reduce cash holdings. We also show that narcissistic leaders have better access to bank loans and lower loan cost, prompting them to hold less cash. The negative effect of narcissistic leaders on cash holdings is more pronounced at private firms than at SOEs. In addition, narcissistic leaders negatively affect the firm value. We contribute to the literature on leader narcissism, cash holdings, and corporate governance in emerging market contexts.     

Corporate cash holdings and total factor productivity – A global analysis

Studies concerning total factor productivity (TFP) have investigated the effect of TFP on economic growth from a country-level perspective, which is a critical issue in the macroeconomics field. Few studies have examined how corporate financial decisions influence TFP from a firm-level perspective. Specifically, no extant studies have investigated how cash holdings affect firm productivity. This study utilizes data for firms in 65 countries during 1993–2017 to investigate the effect of cash holdings on TFP from a corporate perspective. The findings show that firms with higher cash holdings can enhance TFP. The results hold after considering endogenous problems, financial constraints, financial crises, corporate governance, institutional quality, and financial development as well as various robustness tests. Furthermore, we examine whether firms consistently invest their cash holdings into research and development (R&D) expenditures enhances firm productivity. The evidence indicates that higher cash holdings lead to steady increases in R&D expenditure, which improves firms’ TFP.     

Democracy,rule of law,and corporate governance—a liquidity perspective

This study examines whether and how democracy and rule of law—two overarching country-level governance variables—influence corporate governance. Given that corporate liquidity (cash holdings) is a good channel for examining the quality of corporate governance, the effects of democracy and rule of law on corporate governance can be identified using the liquidity approach. A review of 67 countries from 1996 to 2010 demonstrates that democracy and rule of law indeed have bearings on corporate governance. More specifically, results indicate that firms are more inclined to hoard cash to take advantage of growth opportunities when the level of democracy is higher or rule of law is stronger, suggesting that agency costs are lower and interests of managers and shareholders are more aligned under such circumstances. In addition, the negative effect of debt issuance and dividend payment on cash is more pronounced when the level of democracy is higher or rule of law is stronger, suggesting that these two approaches become more effective in reducing agency costs and transitively cash holdings under such circumstances. Moreover, the positive effect of democracy and rule of law on corporate governance appears to be reinforced when rule of law is stronger and the level of democracy is higher, respectively. Furthermore, higher level of economic development helps reap the benefit of democracy and rule of law in terms of improving corporate governance and reducing agency costs.     

Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure and the Value of Cash Holdings

This study investigates whether corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports mitigate the value destruction associated with increases in cash holdings. We find that the issuance of a standalone CSR report increases the marginal value of cash holdings and this effect is more pronounced for firms in a less transparent information environment and for firms with weaker external monitoring. Our results suggest that information in CSR reports can facilitate monitoring and thus induce more efficient use of cash holdings.     

Cash holding dynamics and competition intensity: Evidence from UK firms

Using a quasi-natural experiment and various measures of competition intensity, we examine whether an increase in product market competition is a key driver of firm cash holdings. We find that firms increase cash holdings when competition is intense. The results suggest that the degree of increase in cash holdings is magnified among firms exposed to high predatory threat and financing friction. In addition, we examine if increasing cash holdings offers a competitive advantage in the product market. Our results indicate that firms with large cash reserves make gains in market share at the expense of their rivals. Gains in the product market are more pronounced among firms with low exposure to predatory risk and financing frictions.     

Anti-corruption,government intervention,and corporate cash holdings: Evidence from China

We use China as an example to examine how anti-corruption and government intervention shape corporate cash holding decisions. The findings show that firms in provinces with less government intervention (weak anti-corruption intensity) hold smaller (larger) cash reserves than those in provinces with more government intervention (strong anti-corruption intensity). Furthermore, we find that the positive relationship between government intervention and corporate cash holdings is alleviated as the anti-corruption intensity increases, and this alleviation effect is more prominent for state-owned enterprises (SOEs), firms in high intervention areas and firms without political connections. These findings support the argument that corruption-free and low intervention governments can benefit firms in making more profitable corporate decisions.     

The dividend policies of all-equity firms: A direct test of the free cash flow theory

This paper finds support for Jensen's (1986) hypothesis that dividends and debt are substitute mechanisms for controlling the agency costs of free cash flow. We find that dividend payout ratios of a sample of all-equity firms are significantly higher than those of a control group of levered firms. Further, within the group of all-equity firms, firms with lower managerial holdings have higher payout ratios. These results hold after controlling for free cash flow and growth rates. Overall, our evidence suggests that dividends and managerial ownership are substitute mechanisms for reducing agency costs in all-equity firms.     

Corporate cash holdings and dividend payments: evidence from simultaneous analysis

This study explores the simultaneous relationship between corporate cash holdings and dividend policy using a large sample of around 400 non‐financial firms for the period from 1991 to 2008. The results show that cash holdings are affected by dividends, leverage, growth, size, risk, profitability, and working capital ratio. Dividend policy is affected by cash, leverage, growth, size, risk, and profit. When controlling for simultaneity, dividend payments do not appear to significantly affect cash holdings, nor do cash holdings affect dividend policy. The empirical analysis suggests that simultaneity is crucial in analyzing corporate cash holdings and dividend policy. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

客户集中度、现金持有与公司竞争优势

以2007—2013年沪深A股制造业上市公司为样本,实证检验了客户集中度对公司竞争优势的影响以及现金持有在其中的调节效应。研究发现,客户集中度与公司竞争优势显著负相关,尤其是在高竞争行业,客户集中度对公司竞争优势的负面影响更加显著;充裕的现金储备可以通过其风险管理职能和竞争效应显著降低客户集中度对公司竞争优势的负面影响,在高竞争行业,现金持有更有助于缓解客户集中度对公司竞争优势的负面影响。本研究从客户集中度视角揭示了公司竞争优势的影响因素,丰富了现金持有经济效应的研究。     

Cultural and macroeconomic determinants of cash holdings management

This study examines patterns in cash management, particularly cash holdings speed of adjustment (CH‐SOA), across 48 countries. I find that managerial cultural characteristics and country‐level macroeconomic factors influence the persistence of cash reserve levels, deviation from target, and the speed with which firms in different countries adjust their cash holdings. The findings support the idea that agency costs as well as market frictions influence CH‐SOA and other aspects of cash management. The findings are robust to the inclusion of a wide range of firm‐level characteristics, country‐level corporate‐governance variables, and an alternative cultural index.     

股价崩盘风险、信息环境与企业现金调整

以我国2009—2016年沪深上市公司数据为样本,探究了股价崩盘风险、信息环境对企业现金调整的影响。研究发现：股价崩盘风险越大,企业现金调整速度越快,且这种正相关关系对于分析师跟踪数量较少、机构投资者持股比例少的企业而言更为显著。进一步考察股权性质在企业现金调整速度中的影响,发现国有企业与民营企业面对股价崩盘风险的现金调整速度并不具有显著差异,但是对于民营企业而言,更多的分析师跟踪和机构投资者持股将显著降低企业应对股价崩盘风险的现金调整速度,信息环境对于国有企业的作用并不显著。     

治理环境、控制权与现金流权分离及现金持有量——我国民营上市公司的实证研究

利用我国民营上市公司披露的2003年-2006年的终极控股股东数据和樊纲、王小鲁(2007年)编制的中国各地区市场化进程数据及其子数据构建各地区公司治理环境指数,检验治理环境、控制权与现金流权分离及现金持有量的关系.研究发现,治理环境与现金持有量正相关;终极股东控制权与现金流权偏离度与现金持有量显著负相关,治理环境的改善有助于减轻这种负向影响.     

董事会计师事务所工作背景与企业现金持有水平——来自中国资本市场的经验证据

基于2004—2012年我国上市公司数据,考察了董事会计师事务所工作背景对企业现金持有水平的影响。研究发现,董事会会计师事务所工作背景（董事会中是否有成员具有会计师事务所工作背景、董事会中拥有会计师事务所工作背景的董事人数、董事会中拥有会计师事务所工作背景的董事比例等）显著降低了企业的现金持有水平。进一步的分组检验结果还发现董事会计师事务所工作背景带来的现金方面的治理效应仅仅体现在高成长企业和管理层权力较大的企业之中,因为这两类企业面临的潜在代理冲突或信息不对称问题更为严重。     

融资约束、资本投资与公司现金持有竞争效应

以我国上市公司2003-2012年数据为样本,基于产权性质和金融发展水平,从资本投资中介效应视角检验了融资约束对现金持有竞争效应的影响。研究发现:公司现金持有通过资本投资中介效应实现的竞争效应在融资约束公司、民营公司以及金融发展水平较低地区的公司中更加显著。进一步检验表明,现金持有的竞争效应提高了现金价值,而且在金融发展水平较低地区的公司、融资约束公司和民营公司中更高。     

COVID-19, ESG investing,and the resilience of more sustainable stocks: Evidence from European firms

Following the COVID-19 outbreak, orientation toward sustainability is a critical factor in ensuring firm survival and growth. Using a large sample of 1,204 firms in Europe during the year 2020, this study investigates how more sustainable firms fare during the pandemic compared with other firms in terms of risk–return trade-off and stock market liquidity. We also highlight the drivers of the resilience of more sustainable firms to the pandemic. Particularly, we document that higher levels of cash holdings and liquid assets in the pre-COVID period help these firms to perform and absorb the COVID-19 externalities better than other firms. Our results are robust to a host of econometric models, including GMM estimations and several measures of stock market performance. These findings contribute to the theoretical and empirical debate on the role of the sustainability as a source of corporate resilience to unexpected shocks.     

Forecasting corporate default risk in China

Default risk prediction can not only provide forward-looking and timely risk measures for regulators and investors, but also improve the stability of the financial system. However, the determinants of corporate default risk in China have not been well-identified. An empirical analysis was conducted using a unique dataset of default events in the Chinese market to fill this gap. First, we demonstrated that the default probability estimated by a structural model, which is widely used in the literature, do not fully reveal the default risk of firms in China. Second, we classified default events into minor and major defaults for empirical analysis. We found that firms that survive minor defaults behave differently from other bankrupt firms. Our results suggest that the determinants of corporate default risk in China and the United States differ. We also found that a firm’s continued increase in cash holdings is one of the most important signs of default. Overall, our study significantly improves the accuracy of forecasting corporate default risk in China.     

数字金融如何影响企业现金持有？

基于2011—2020年中国上市企业数据和城市层面的数字普惠金融指数,考察了数字金融对企业现金持有的影响。研究发现,数字金融发展显著增加了区域内企业的现金持有,且数字金融分指标中除了覆盖广度和数字化程度外,二级指标中的数字支付和互联网信贷业务均会显著增加企业现金持有。进一步分析发现,数字金融通过提高经营活动现金流、抑制企业杠杆率和降低债务融资等机制增加了企业现金持有。此外,对于规模较小、民营和弱银企关系的企业而言,数字金融对企业现金持有的影响更显著。研究结论丰富了数字金融发展的经济后果,也拓展了现金持有理论的分析框架。     

现金持有与研发投入的相关性研究——基于我国A股上市公司数据

采用2007—2013年沪深两市A股上市公司作为样本,对现金持有与研发投入的关系进行分析,结果显示:研发投入越多的企业的现金持有水平越高;期初现金持有越多的企业研发投入越多,研发-现金敏感性越显著,而且随着现金持有量的增加该敏感性会逐渐下降;相比于成熟期公司,成长期公司现金持有与研发投入之间的正相关性更强,而且成长期公司的研发-现金敏感性不会随着现金持有水平的增加而下降。     

The effects of cash holdings on corporate performance during a credit crunch: evidence from the sub-prime mortgage crisis

We examine the effects of firms’ cash positions in moderating the impact of the subprime mortgage crisis on corporate performance. We find that corporate performance significantly declines following the onset of the crisis. Firms with low cash reserves had the largest declines in performance following the onset of the financial crisis. However, we do not find any differences in performance decline following the onset of the crisis, when we compare financially constrained firms to financially unconstrained firms.