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Do U.S. Firms Hold More Cash than Foreign Firms Do?

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  • Lee Pinkowitz
  • René M. Stulz
  • Rohan Williamson

Abstract

From 1998 to 2011, U.S. firms held more cash on average (but not at the median) than similar foreign firms (foreign twins) did. The average difference in cash holdings does not increase after 2008, and it is driven by highly R&D-intensive U.S. firms. Because there are almost no similarly R&D-intensive foreign firms, mean comparisons involving these U.S. firms are not reliable. Without these U.S. firms, neither U.S. multinational firms nor purely domestic U.S. firms hold more cash than their foreign twins do. Country characteristics have negligible explanatory power for differences in cash holdings between U.S. firms and their foreign twins. Received April 17, 2014; accepted August 4, 2015 by Editor David Denis.

Suggested Citation

  • Lee Pinkowitz & René M. Stulz & Rohan Williamson, 2016. "Do U.S. Firms Hold More Cash than Foreign Firms Do?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 29(2), pages 309-348.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:rfinst:v:29:y:2016:i:2:p:309-348.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/rfs/hhv064
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    Cited by:

    1. Konrad Adler & Mr. JaeBin Ahn & Mai Dao, 2019. "Innovation and Corporate Cash Holdings in the Era of Globalization," IMF Working Papers 2019/017, International Monetary Fund.
    2. Begenau, Juliane & Palazzo, Berardino, 2021. "Firm selection and corporate cash holdings," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(3), pages 697-718.
    3. Andrea Caggese & Ander Pérez-Orive, 2017. "Capital Misallocation and Secular Stagnation," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2017-009, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    4. Li Cui & Pamela Kent & Sujin Kim & Shan Li, 2021. "Accounting conservatism and firm performance during the COVID‐19 pandemic," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(4), pages 5543-5579, December.
    5. Liu,Yu & Peng,Mike W. & Wei,Zuobao & Xu,Jian & Xu,L. Colin, 2021. "Organizational Resources, Country Institutions, and National Culture behind Firm Survival and Growth during COVID-19," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9633, The World Bank.
    6. Alves, Duarte & Alves, Paulo & Carvalho, Luis & Pais, Claudio, 2022. "Cash holdings: International evidence," The Journal of Economic Asymmetries, Elsevier, vol. 26(C).
    7. Friberg, Richard & Seiler, Thomas, 2017. "Risk and ambiguity in 10-Ks: An examination of cash holding and derivatives use," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 608-631.
    8. Bronzini, Raffaello & D’Ignazio, Alessio & Revelli, Davide, 2022. "Financial structure and bank relationships of Italian multinational firms," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    9. Jin, Jing & Liao, Rose C. & Loureiro, Gilberto, 2021. "The diverse effects of currency crises on multinational and local firms: The use of foreign currency debt," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    10. Hoffmann, Florian & Pfeil, Sebastian, 2021. "Dynamic multitasking and managerial investment incentives," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 954-974.
    11. Gonenc, Halit & Polten, Marc-Oliver & Westerman, Wim, 2022. "U.S., Anglo-Saxon European, and non-Anglo-Saxon European cash holdings around the financial crisis," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    12. Alomran, Abdulaziz Ahmed & Alsubaiei, Bader Jawid, 2022. "Oil price uncertainty and corporate cash holdings: Global evidence," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    13. Xu, Jian & Liu, Yu & Abdoh, Hussein, 2022. "Foreign ownership and productivity," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 624-642.
    14. Wu, Weijun & Yang, Yang & Zhou, Sili, 2017. "Multinational firms and cash holdings: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 20(C), pages 184-191.
    15. Manoel, Aviner Augusto Silva & Moraes, Marcelo Botelho da Costa, 2022. "The impact of internationalization degree on cash levels: Evidence from Latin America," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(3).
    16. Lucia Granelli & Martin Habet & Guergana Stanoeva & Gaetano D’Adamo & Robert Gampfer, 2020. "Puzzles in Non-Financial Corporate Sector Savings across the G20," European Economy - Economic Briefs 063, Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission.
    17. Fernandes, Nuno & Gonenc, Halit, 2016. "Multinationals and cash holdings," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 139-154.
    18. Richard Herron, 2022. "Payout policy and the interaction of firm-level and country-level governance," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 58(1), pages 1-39, January.
    19. Agarwal, Manoj K. & Ma, Zecong & Park, Chang Hee & Zheng, Yilong, 2022. "The impact of a manufacturer’s financial liquidity on its market strategies and pricing and promotion decisions in retail grocery markets," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 844-857.
    20. Chen, Shimin & Cronqvist, Henrik & Ni, Serene & Zhang, Frank, 2017. "Languages and corporate savings behavior," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 320-341.
    21. Huang, Bingbing & Zhang, Xuehui & Bi, Qian, 2022. "The nonlinear effect of shareholder ownership structure on a firm's cash holdings: Type I and Type II agency problem perspectives in China's split-share reform," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 493-504.
    22. Li, Xiafei & Luo, Di, 2020. "Increase in cash holdings of U.S. firms: The role of healthcare and technology industries," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 286-298.
    23. Francisco Salas-Molina & David Pla-Santamaria & Juan A. Rodriguez-Aguilar, 2018. "A multi-objective approach to the cash management problem," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 267(1), pages 515-529, August.
    24. Lin, Xiaowei & Li, Ao & Zhang, Pengdong & Chen, Wenchuan, 2023. "The disciplinary role of product market competition on cash holding," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 653-671.

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