We use China as a laboratory to test the effect of government quality on cash holdings. We build on, and extend, the existing literature on government expropriation and its interaction with firm-level agency problems by proposing a financial constraint mitigation argument. Wefind that firms hold...

This study examines the cash policies of business group members (i.e., affiliates). Using a panel dataset of private Belgian affiliates and comparable non-affiliated firms, the empirical results show that business group affiliates hold significantly smaller amounts of cash as compared to...

Why do diversified firms hold significantly less cash than focused firms? We study this using a dynamic model of corporate investment, saving, and diversification decisions. We find that investment dynamics are more important in explaining the cash differences than financing frictions. More...

Previous studies indicate that financial constraints and corporate governance are main factors affecting corporate cash holdings. This paper simultaneously examines the interactive influences of financial constraints and corporate governance on corporate cash holdings among publicly traded U.S....

We examine the relation between employee protection legislation and corporate cash holdings. As wages become less elastic in a firm's production function, precautionary savings are expected to increase. We show that the staggered passage of legal exceptions to the “at-will” employment...

In this study we analyze the effect of information asymmetry on corporate cash holdings. Using various measures of information asymmetry, we show that companies that operate in higher information asymmetry environments have smaller cash holdings. We continue to find a negative relation between...

Several empirical studies have reported that the level of short-term financing is higher in firms operating in developing countries. Short-term financing increases risk of default as it matures quickly and leaves little room for the borrowing firm to manage its cash flows. But if the firm has a...

This study examines the determinants of target cash reserves among publicly listed Chinese firms in the 1998 to 2009 period, and how actual levels of cash holdings adjust towards target cash reserves. The consistency of the determinants of cash reserves with the static trade-off, pecking order...

We examine the effect of CEO compensation incentives on corporate cash holdings and the value of cash to better understand how compensation incentives designed to enhance the alignment of manager and shareholder interests may influence stockholder-bondholder conflicts. We find a positive...

This paper investigates cash holding behaviour of firms from France, Germany, Japan, the UK and the US using data for 4,069 companies over the period 1996-2000. Our focus is particularly on the relation between cash holdings and leverage. We argue that the impact of leverage on cash balances of...