IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/imf/imfwpa/2014-221.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Cashing in for Growth: Corporate Cash Holdings as an Opportunity for Investment in Japan

Author

Listed:
  • Galen Sher

Abstract

Over the last two decades, cash holdings in nonfinancial firms around the world have increased. This phenomenon is particularly concerning in Japan, where the success of Abenomics depends on a transition from stimulus-driven to self-sustaining growth based on private consumption and investment. This paper finds that Japanese nonfinancial firms have accumulated cash at the expense of investment and dividends, hampering this transition. The evidence suggests that cash accumulation is due to financial imperfections combined with rising corporate profitability and uncertainty, while corporate governance plays only a limited role. These firms have cash holdings available for investment of about 5 percent of GDP. Policy options for encouraging the use of these cash holdings include improving firms’ access to market-based financing and discouraging CEO duality.

Suggested Citation

  • Galen Sher, 2014. "Cashing in for Growth: Corporate Cash Holdings as an Opportunity for Investment in Japan," IMF Working Papers 2014/221, International Monetary Fund.
    • Handle: RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2014/221
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.aspx?sk=42523
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Merton H. Miller & Daniel Orr, 1966. "A Model of the Demand for Money by Firms," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 80(3), pages 413-435.
    2. Stewart C. Myers & Nicholas S. Majluf, 1984. "Corporate Financing and Investment Decisions When Firms Have InformationThat Investors Do Not Have," NBER Working Papers 1396, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Myers, Stewart C. & Majluf, Nicholas S., 1984. "Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 187-221, June.
    4. Dittmar, Amy & Mahrt-Smith, Jan & Servaes, Henri, 2003. "International Corporate Governance and Corporate Cash Holdings," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 38(1), pages 111-133, March.
    5. Thomas W. Bates & Kathleen M. Kahle & René M. Stulz, 2009. "Why Do U.S. Firms Hold So Much More Cash than They Used To?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(5), pages 1985-2021, October.
    6. Chie Aoyagi & Giovanni Ganelli, 2017. "Unstash the Cash! Corporate Governance Reform in Japan," Journal of Banking and Financial Economics, University of Warsaw, Faculty of Management, vol. 1(7), pages 51-69, May.
    7. Acharya, Viral V. & Almeida, Heitor & Campello, Murillo, 2007. "Is cash negative debt? A hedging perspective on corporate financial policies," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 515-554, October.
    8. Takeo Hoshi & Anil Kashyap & David Scharfstein, 1991. "Corporate Structure, Liquidity, and Investment: Evidence from Japanese Industrial Groups," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(1), pages 33-60.
    9. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2010. "Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262232588, December.
    10. Heitor Almeida & Murillo Campello & Michael S. Weisbach, 2004. "The Cash Flow Sensitivity of Cash," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 59(4), pages 1777-1804, August.
    11. Jensen, Michael C, 1986. "Agency Costs of Free Cash Flow, Corporate Finance, and Takeovers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(2), pages 323-329, May.
    12. Rajan, Raghuram G & Zingales, Luigi, 1995. "What Do We Know about Capital Structure? Some Evidence from International Data," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 50(5), pages 1421-1460, December.
    13. Opler, Tim & Pinkowitz, Lee & Stulz, Rene & Williamson, Rohan, 1999. "The determinants and implications of corporate cash holdings," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 3-46, April.
    14. Pinkowitz, Lee & Williamson, Rohan, 2001. "Bank Power and Cash Holdings: Evidence from Japan," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 14(4), pages 1059-1082.
    15. G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), 2003. "Handbook of the Economics of Finance," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 1, number 1.
    16. Mr. Murtaza H Syed & Ms. Jinsook Lee, 2010. "Japan’s Quest for Growth: Exploring the Role of Capital and innovation," IMF Working Papers 2010/294, International Monetary Fund.
    17. DeAngelo, Harry & DeAngelo, Linda & Skinner, Douglas J., 2004. "Are dividends disappearing? Dividend concentration and the consolidation of earnings," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(3), pages 425-456, June.
    18. Denis, David J. & Osobov, Igor, 2008. "Why do firms pay dividends? International evidence on the determinants of dividend policy," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(1), pages 62-82, July.
    19. Koichi Ando & Keiichi Hori & Makoto Saito, 2009. "On the Determinants of Corporate Cash Holdings in Japan: Evidence from Panel Analysis of Listed Companies [in Japanese]," Global COE Hi-Stat Discussion Paper Series gd09-081, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    20. Han, Seungjin & Qiu, Jiaping, 2007. "Corporate precautionary cash holdings," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 43-57, March.
    21. Mr. Joong S Kang, 2014. "Balance Sheet Repair and Corporate Investment in Japan," IMF Working Papers 2014/141, International Monetary Fund.
    22. DeAngelo, Harry & DeAngelo, Linda, 2006. "The irrelevance of the MM dividend irrelevance theorem," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(2), pages 293-315, February.
    23. G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), 2003. "Handbook of the Economics of Finance," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 1, number 2.
    24. Mulligan, Casey B, 1997. "Scale Economies, the Value of Time, and the Demand for Money: Longitudinal Evidence from Firms," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(5), pages 1061-1079, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. KHAN, Asad & BIBI, Memoona & TANVEER, Sarfaraz, 2016. "The Impact Of Corporate Governance On Cash Holdings: A Comparative Study Of The Manufacturing And Service Industry," Studii Financiare (Financial Studies), Centre of Financial and Monetary Research "Victor Slavescu", vol. 20(3), pages 40-79.
    2. Shajuan Zhang, 2018. "Industry†specific Exchange Rate Fluctuations, Japanese Exports and Financial Constraints: Evidence from Panel Vector Autoregressive Analysis," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 32(2), pages 125-145, June.
    3. Mariana Colacelli & Emilio Fernández Corugedo, 2018. "Macroeconomic Effects of Japan’s Demographics: Can Structural Reforms Reverse Them?," IMF Working Papers 2018/248, International Monetary Fund.
    4. Tanweer Akram, 2016. "Japan's Liquidity Trap," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_862, Levy Economics Institute.
    5. Kang, Sunmin & Hwang, Intae & Song, Sooyoung, 2018. "Cash hoarding: Vice or virtue," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 94-116.
    6. Ahmad Alkhataybeh & Safaa Adnan AlSmadi & Mohammad Ziad Shakhatreh & Mohammad A. Khataybeh, 2022. "Government Ownership and Corporate Cash Holdings: Empirical Evidence from the Amman Stock Exchange," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-14, September.
    7. Mahmoud Otaify & Aly Dawood & Mohamed Farouk, 2022. "Optimal Cash Ratio and Adjustment Speed Across Different Firm Characteristics," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 12(3), pages 73-85, May.
    8. Cuong, Ly Kim & Shimizu, Katsutoshi & Cui, Weihan, 2021. "The determinants of negative net leverage policy: New evidence from Japan," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 449-460.
    9. Ryosuke Fujitani & Masazumi Hattori & Tomohide Mineyama, 2024. "Passive and Proactive Motivations of Cash Holdings," Working Papers e200, Tokyo Center for Economic Research.
    10. Davide Porcellacchia, 2016. "Wage-Price Dynamics and Structural Reforms in Japan," IMF Working Papers 2016/020, International Monetary Fund.
    11. Machokoto, Michael & Mahonye, Nyasha & Makate, Marshall, 2022. "Short-term financing sources in Africa: Substitutes or complements?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    12. HATTORI Masazumi & FUJITANI Ryosuke & NAKAJIMA Jouchi & YASUDA Yukihiro, 2023. "Real Effects of Corporate Cash Holdings: Evidence from Japan," Discussion papers 23084, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Abdul Rashid & Maryam Ashfaq, 2017. "Financial Constraints And Corporate Cash Holdings: An Empirical Analysis Using Firm Level Data," Annals of Financial Economics (AFE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 12(02), pages 1-26, June.
    2. Bigelli, Marco & Sánchez-Vidal, Javier, 2012. "Cash holdings in private firms," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 26-35.
    3. Jan Felix Weidemann, 2018. "A state-of-the-art review of corporate cash holding research," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 88(6), pages 765-797, August.
    4. Adão, Bernardino & Silva, André C., 2020. "The effect of firm cash holdings on monetary policy," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    5. Cristina Martínez-Sola & Pedro J. García-Teruel & Pedro Martínez-Solano, 2018. "Cash holdings in SMEs: speed of adjustment, growth and financing," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 51(4), pages 823-842, December.
    6. Efstathios Magerakis & Konstantinos Gkillas & Athanasios Tsagkanos & Costas Siriopoulos, 2020. "Firm Size Does Matter: New Evidence on the Determinants of Cash Holdings," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-35, July.
    7. Iskandar-Datta, Mai E. & Jia, Yonghong, 2012. "Cross-country analysis of secular cash trends," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 898-912.
    8. Efstathios Magerakis & Ahsan Habib, 2022. "Environmental uncertainty and corporate cash holdings: The moderating role of CEO ability," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 22(3), pages 402-432, September.
    9. Tut, Daniel, 2021. "Financial Crisis, Corporate Governance and the Value of Cash Holdings," MPRA Paper 108593, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Changling Sun & Ziang Lin & Marek Vochozka & Zuzana Vincúrová, 2022. "Digital transformation and corporate cash holdings in China’s A-share listed companies," Oeconomia Copernicana, Institute of Economic Research, vol. 13(4), pages 1081-1116, December.
    11. Ahrends, Meike & Drobetz, Wolfgang & Nomikos, Nikos K., 2018. "Corporate cash holdings in the shipping industry," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 107-124.
    12. Maurizio Rocca & Raffaele Staglianò & Tiziana Rocca & Alfio Cariola & Ekaterina Skatova, 2019. "Cash holdings and SME performance in Europe: the role of firm-specific and macroeconomic moderators," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 53(4), pages 1051-1078, December.
    13. Podolski, Edward J. & Truong, Cameron & Veeraraghavan, Madhu, 2016. "Cash holdings and bond returns around takeovers," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 1-11.
    14. Chauhan, Yogesh & Pathak, Rajesh & Kumar, Satish, 2018. "Do bank-appointed directors affect corporate cash holding?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 39-56.
    15. Kan Nakajima & Takafumi Sasaki, 2022. "Business group affiliation, corporate diversification, and cash holdings," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 39(1), pages 173-199, March.
    16. Chen, Yangyang & Dou, Paul Y. & Rhee, S. Ghon & Truong, Cameron & Veeraraghavan, Madhu, 2015. "National culture and corporate cash holdings around the world," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 1-18.
    17. Sasaki, Toshinori & Suzuki, Katsushi, 2019. "Bank health and cash holdings: Evidence from a bank-centered financial market," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    18. Beyer, Brooke & Downes, Jimmy & Rapley, Eric T., 2017. "Internal capital market inefficiencies, shareholder payout, and abnormal leverage," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 39-57.
    19. Amess, Kevin & Banerji, Sanjay & Lampousis, Athanasios, 2015. "Corporate cash holdings: Causes and consequences," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 421-433.
    20. Brisker, Eric R. & Çolak, Gönül & Peterson, David R., 2013. "Changes in cash holdings around the S&P 500 additions," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 1787-1807.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2014/221. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Akshay Modi (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/imfffus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.