IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/pacfin/v45y2017icp157-173.html

Are excess cash holdings more valuable to firms in times of crisis? Financial constraints and governance matters

Author

Listed:
  • Chang, Yanhao
  • Benson, Karen
  • Faff, Robert

Abstract

This study examines the impact of cash holdings on firm value before and during the 2008 financial crisis, conditional on financial constraints and corporate governance. We show that the equity market places a higher value on corporate cash holdings during the financial crisis and cash holdings are more valuable to constrained firms, compared to unconstrained firms. However, the triple-interaction of cash with constraints and crisis shows the crisis value effect for constrained firms is weaker than for unconstrained firms. Further, the triple-interaction of excess cash with governance and constraints shows that a positive governance effect on corporate cash holdings is more pronounced for firms that are financially constrained.

Suggested Citation

  • Chang, Yanhao & Benson, Karen & Faff, Robert, 2017. "Are excess cash holdings more valuable to firms in times of crisis? Financial constraints and governance matters," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 157-173.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pacfin:v:45:y:2017:i:c:p:157-173
    DOI: 10.1016/j.pacfin.2016.05.007
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927538X1630052X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.pacfin.2016.05.007?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. John E. Core & Wayne R. Guay & David F. Larcker, 2003. "Executive equity compensation and incentives: a survey," Economic Policy Review, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, vol. 9(Apr), pages 27-50.
    2. Michael Kisser, 2013. "The Real Option Value of Cash," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 17(5), pages 1649-1697.
    3. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1986. "Large Shareholders and Corporate Control," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(3), pages 461-488, June.
    4. Teresa A. John, 1993. "Accounting Measures of Corporate Liquidity, Leverage, and Costs of Financial Distress," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 22(3), Fall.
    5. Lucian A. Bebchuk & Michael S. Weisbach, 2012. "The State of Corporate Governance Research," Springer Books, in: Sabri Boubaker & Bang Dang Nguyen & Duc Khuong Nguyen (ed.), Corporate Governance, edition 127, pages 325-346, Springer.
    6. Heitor Almeida & Murillo Campello, 2007. "Financial Constraints, Asset Tangibility, and Corporate Investment," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 20(5), pages 1429-1460, 2007 12.
    7. Oguzhan Ozbas & David S. Scharfstein, 2010. "Evidence on the Dark Side of Internal Capital Markets," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(2), pages 581-599, February.
    8. Gorton, Gary B., 2010. "Slapped by the Invisible Hand: The Panic of 2007," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199734153.
    9. Jarrad Harford & Sattar A. Mansi & William F. Maxwell, 2012. "Corporate Governance and Firm Cash Holdings in the U.S," Springer Books, in: Sabri Boubaker & Bang Dang Nguyen & Duc Khuong Nguyen (ed.), Corporate Governance, edition 127, pages 107-138, Springer.
    10. Kusnadi, Yuanto, 2011. "Do corporate governance mechanisms matter for cash holdings and firm value?," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 19(5), pages 554-570, November.
    11. repec:bla:jfinan:v:59:y:2004:i:4:p:1777-1804 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Liu, Yixin & Mauer, David C., 2011. "Corporate cash holdings and CEO compensation incentives," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(1), pages 183-198, October.
    13. Toni M. Whited & Guojun Wu, 2006. "Financial Constraints Risk," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 19(2), pages 531-559.
    14. Erkens, David H. & Hung, Mingyi & Matos, Pedro, 2012. "Corporate governance in the 2007–2008 financial crisis: Evidence from financial institutions worldwide," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 389-411.
    15. David J. Denis & Valeriy Sibilkov, 2010. "Financial Constraints, Investment, and the Value of Cash Holdings," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(1), pages 247-269, January.
    16. 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.
    17. Howard W. H. Chan & Yufei Lu & Hong F. Zhang, 2013. "The effect of financial constraints, investment policy, product market competition and corporate governance on the value of cash holdings," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 53(2), pages 339-366, June.
    18. Chan, Howard & Chang, Xin & Faff, Robert & Wong, George, 2010. "Financial constraints and stock returns -- Evidence from Australia," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 306-318, June.
    19. Markus K. Brunnermeier, 2009. "Deciphering the Liquidity and Credit Crunch 2007-2008," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 23(1), pages 77-100, Winter.
    20. Dittmar, Amy & Mahrt-Smith, Jan, 2007. "Corporate governance and the value of cash holdings," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(3), pages 599-634, March.
    21. Charles J. Hadlock & Joshua R. Pierce, 2010. "New Evidence on Measuring Financial Constraints: Moving Beyond the KZ Index," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(5), pages 1909-1940.
    22. David McLean, R., 2011. "Share issuance and cash savings," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(3), pages 693-715, March.
    23. Edward Lee & Ronan Powell, 2011. "Excess cash holdings and shareholder value," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 51(2), pages 549-574, June.
    24. Laurent Fresard, 2012. "Cash Savings and Stock Price Informativeness," Post-Print hal-01053586, HAL.
    25. Campello, Murillo & Graham, John R. & Harvey, Campbell R., 2010. "The real effects of financial constraints: Evidence from a financial crisis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(3), pages 470-487, September.
    26. Duchin, Ran & Ozbas, Oguzhan & Sensoy, Berk A., 2010. "Costly external finance, corporate investment, and the subprime mortgage credit crisis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(3), pages 418-435, September.
    27. Lee Pinkowitz & Rohan Williamson, 2007. "What is the Market Value of a Dollar of Corporate Cash?," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 19(3), pages 74-81, June.
    28. Lucian Bebchuk & Alma Cohen & Allen Ferrell, 2009. "What Matters in Corporate Governance?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(2), pages 783-827, February.
    29. Joan Farre-Mensa & Alexander Ljungqvist, 2016. "Do Measures of Financial Constraints Measure Financial Constraints?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 29(2), pages 271-308.
    30. Carola Frydman & Raven E. Saks, 2010. "Executive Compensation: A New View from a Long-Term Perspective, 1936--2005," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(5), pages 2099-2138.
    31. Dittmar, Amy K. & Dittmar, Robert F., 2008. "The timing of financing decisions: An examination of the correlation in financing waves," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(1), pages 59-83, October.
    32. Steven M. Fazzari & R. Glenn Hubbard & Bruce C. Petersen, 1988. "Financing Constraints and Corporate Investment," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 19(1), pages 141-206.
    33. Michael Faulkender & Rong Wang, 2006. "Corporate Financial Policy and the Value of Cash," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(4), pages 1957-1990, August.
    34. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 1993. "Common risk factors in the returns on stocks and bonds," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 3-56, February.
    35. DeAngelo, Harry & DeAngelo, Linda & Stulz, Rene M., 2006. "Dividend policy and the earned/contributed capital mix: a test of the life-cycle theory," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(2), pages 227-254, August.
    36. 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.
    37. Ivashina, Victoria & Scharfstein, David, 2010. "Bank lending during the financial crisis of 2008," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(3), pages 319-338, September.
    38. Jarrad Harford, 1999. "Corporate Cash Reserves and Acquisitions," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(6), pages 1969-1997, December.
    39. Fritz Foley, C. & Hartzell, Jay C. & Titman, Sheridan & Twite, Garry, 2007. "Why do firms hold so much cash? A tax-based explanation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(3), pages 579-607, December.
    40. Coles, Jeffrey L. & Lemmon, Michael L. & Felix Meschke, J., 2012. "Structural models and endogeneity in corporate finance: The link between managerial ownership and corporate performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(1), pages 149-168.
    41. Opler, Tim C & Titman, Sheridan, 1994. "Financial Distress and Corporate Performance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 49(3), pages 1015-1040, July.
    42. Laurent Fresard, 2010. "Financial Strength and Product Market Behavior: The Real Effects of Corporate Cash Holdings," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(3), pages 1097-1122, June.
    43. Kim, Chang-Soo & Mauer, David C. & Sherman, Ann E., 1998. "The Determinants of Corporate Liquidity: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 33(3), pages 335-359, September.
    44. repec:bla:jfinan:v:53:y:1998:i:3:p:819-843 is not listed on IDEAS
    45. Kahle, Kathleen M. & Stulz, René M., 2013. "Access to capital, investment, and the financial crisis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(2), pages 280-299.
    46. James J. Heckman & Hidehiko Ichimura & Petra Todd, 1998. "Matching As An Econometric Evaluation Estimator," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 65(2), pages 261-294.
    47. Lins, Karl V. & Servaes, Henri & Tufano, Peter, 2010. "What drives corporate liquidity? An international survey of cash holdings and lines of credit," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(1), pages 160-176, October.
    48. Laurent Fresard, 2010. "Financial Strength and Product Market Behavior: The Real Effects of Corporate Cash Holdings," Post-Print hal-00537081, HAL.
    49. Laurent Fresard, 2012. "Cash Savings and Stock Price Informativeness," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 16(4), pages 985-1012.
    50. Himmelberg, Charles P. & Hubbard, R. Glenn & Palia, Darius, 1999. "Understanding the determinants of managerial ownership and the link between ownership and performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(3), pages 353-384, September.
    51. Steven N. Kaplan & Luigi Zingales, 1997. "Do Investment-Cash Flow Sensitivities Provide Useful Measures of Financing Constraints?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(1), pages 169-215.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Heitor Almeida & Murillo Campello & Igor Cunha & Michael S. Weisbach, 2014. "Corporate Liquidity Management: A Conceptual Framework and Survey," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 6(1), pages 135-162, December.
    2. Ahrends, Meike & Drobetz, Wolfgang & Puhan, Tatjana Xenia, 2018. "Cyclicality of growth opportunities and the value of cash holdings," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 74-96.
    3. Chang, Chong-Chuo & Tang, Hui-Wen, 2021. "Corporate cash holdings and total factor productivity – A global analysis," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    4. 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.
    5. Huang, Winifred & Mazouz, Khelifa, 2018. "Excess cash, trading continuity, and liquidity risk," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 275-291.
    6. Chang, Ching-Hung & Chen, Sheng-Syan & Chen, Yan-Shing & Peng, Shu-Cing, 2019. "Commitment to build trust by socially responsible firms: Evidence from cash holdings," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 364-387.
    7. May, Anthony D., 2014. "Corporate liquidity and the contingent nature of bank credit lines: Evidence on the costs and consequences of bank default," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 410-429.
    8. Hou, Canran & Liu, Huan, 2020. "Foreign residency rights and corporate cash holdings," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    9. 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.
    10. Chen, Hsuan-Chi & Chou, Robin K. & Lu, Chien-Lin, 2018. "Saving for a rainy day: Evidence from the 2000 dot-com crash and the 2008 credit crisis," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 680-699.
    11. Denis, David J., 2011. "Financial flexibility and corporate liquidity," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 667-674, June.
    12. Chang, Chong-Chuo & Yang, Han, 2022. "The role of cash holdings during financial crises," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    13. Hsuan-Chu Lin & She-Chih Chiu, 2017. "Tradeoff on corporate cash holdings: a theoretical and empirical analysis," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 49(3), pages 727-763, October.
    14. Lee, Choonsik & Park, Heungju, 2016. "Financial constraints, board governance standards, and corporate cash holdings," Review of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 21-34.
    15. Tut, Daniel, 2024. "External financing, corporate governance and the value of cash holdings," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 156-179.
    16. Choonsik Lee & Heungju Park, 2016. "Financial constraints, board governance standards, and corporate cash holdings," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(1), pages 21-34, January.
    17. 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.
    18. 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.
    19. Sun, Wenyi & Yin, Chao & Zeng, Yeqin, 2023. "Precautionary motive or private benefit motive for holding cash: Evidence from CEO ownership," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    20. Hui Liang James & Roger Lirely, 2022. "The propensity to save: The effect of Sarbanes–Oxley act," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 40(1), pages 77-96, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:eee:pacfin:v:45:y:2017:i:c:p:157-173. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/pacfin .

    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.