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Is Cash Negative Debt? A Hedging Perspective on Corporate Financial Policies

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Author Info
Acharya, Viral V
Almeida, Heitor
Campello, Murillo

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Abstract

We model the interplay between cash and debt policies in the presence of financial constraints. While saving cash allows constrained firms to hedge against future cash flow shortfalls, reducing current debt – ‘saving borrowing capacity’ – is a more effective way of securing investment in high cash flow states. This trade-off implies that constrained firms will allocate cash flows into cash holdings if their hedging needs are high (i.e., if the correlation between operating cash flows and investment opportunities is low). Those same firms, however, will use free cash flows to reduce current debt if their hedging needs are low. The empirical examination of debt and cash policies of a large sample of firms reveals evidence that is consistent with our theory. In particular, our evidence shows that financially constrained firms with high hedging needs have a strong propensity to save cash out of cash flows while leaving their debt positions unchanged. In contrast, constrained firms with low hedging needs direct most of their free cash flows towards debt reduction, as opposed to cash savings. Our analysis points to an important hedging motive behind standard financial policies such as cash and debt management. It suggests that cash should not be viewed as negative debt.

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Paper provided by C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers in its series CEPR Discussion Papers with number 4886.

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Date of creation: Feb 2005
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Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:4886

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Related research
Keywords: cash holdings; debt policies; financing constraints; hedging; risk management;

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G31 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Capital Budgeting; Investment Policy

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References listed on IDEAS
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Anderson, Ronald W & Carverhill, Andrew, 2007. "Liquidity and Capital Structure," CEPR Discussion Papers 6044, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Silvia Giannangeli & Giorgio Fagiolo & Massimo Molinari, 2008. "Financial Structure and Corporate Growth: Evidence from Italian Panel Data," LEM Papers Series 2008/17, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy. [Downloadable!]
  3. Andres Almazan & Adolfo de Motta & Sheridan Titman & Vahap Uysal, 2007. "Financial Structure, Liquidity, and Firm Locations," NBER Working Papers 13660, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. F. Javier Sánchez Vidal & Juan Francisco Martín Ugedo, 2008. "Edad y tamaño empresarial y ciclo de vida financiero," Working Papers. Serie EC 2008-12, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas, S.A. (Ivie). [Downloadable!]
  5. Ozgur Arslan & Chrisostomos Florackis & Aydin Ozkan, 2006. "The Role of Cash Holdings in Reducing Investment-Cash Flow Sensitivity: Evidence from a Financial Crisis Period in an Emerging Market," Discussion Papers 06/08, Department of Economics, University of York. [Downloadable!]
  6. Bates, Thomas W. & Kahle, Kathleen M. & Stulz, Rene M., 2007. "Why Do U.S. Firms Hold So Much More Cash Than They Used To?," Working Paper Series 2006-17, Ohio State University, Charles A. Dice Center for Research in Financial Economics. [Downloadable!]
  7. Almeida, Heitor & Campello, Murillo & Weisbach, Michael S., 2008. "Corporate Financial and Investment Policies When Future Financing Is Not Frictionless," Working Paper Series 2008-16, Ohio State University, Charles A. Dice Center for Research in Financial Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  8. Christopher F. Baum & Dorothea Schäfer & Oleksandr Talavera, 2008. "The Impact of Financial Structure on Firms' Financial Constraints: A Cross-Country Analysis," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 690, Boston College Department of Economics, revised 22 Sep 2009. [Downloadable!]
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  9. Thomas W. Bates & Kathleen M. Kahle & Rene M. Stulz, 2006. "Why Do U.S. Firms Hold So Much More Cash Than They Used To?," NBER Working Papers 12534, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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