Do Corporations Retain Too Much Cash? Evidence from a Natural Experiment

Hwanki Brian Kim, Woojin Kim and Mathias Kronlund

The Review of Financial Studies, 2023, vol. 36, issue 7, 2839-2877

Abstract: Corporations have accumulated record amounts of cash. We study whether firms’ cash retention has been excessive by examining a Korean reform that introduced a new tax on earnings retained as cash. Difference-in-differences tests show that treated firms reduce cash retention and instead increase payouts and investments. Market participants react favorably to the reform, consistent with excessive cash retention. The valuation effects and the alternative uses of the cash are associated with behavioral and agency frictions. Firms that are more subject to behavioral biases increase payouts and experience higher valuations, while poorly governed firms allocate more to investment and experience relatively lower valuations.Authors have furnished an Internet Appendix, which is available on the Oxford University Press Web site next to the link to the final published paper online.

JEL-codes: G32 G35 G38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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