Using announcement memos released by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), we show that corporations increase liquidity during the quarter the NBER announces a peak in the business cycle. This reaction is primarily restricted to memos about peaks in the business cycle, whether it is a...

Between 1970 and 2014 the federal funds rate soared from approximately 7.18% to 16.38%, and subsequently declined to 0.09%. Based on economic theory, corporate cash holdings should have moved inversely with these interest rate swings. Using a new measure of cash holdings and a random effects...

This paper examines the relationship between cash holdings and business cycles between 1976 and 2012, with a primary emphasis on how cash holdings vary during the business cycle and specifically during recessions. Using several different quarterly data sets, findings confirm that cash holdings...