Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-t5tsf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T02:28:57.924Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Do Funding Conditions Explain the Relation Between Cash Holdings and Stock Returns?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2021

Tyler K. Jensen*
Affiliation:
Iowa State University Ivy College of Business

Abstract

The prior literature links cash holdings and returns (Simutin (2010), Palazzo (2012)). Using two signals of aggregate-funding availability, I find that the positive association between cash and returns only exists during constrained funding environments. In unconstrained periods, there is no association between cash and returns. The relation in constrained environments does not appear to be related to capital expenditures, expected return, or distress risk but is more prevalent in firms undertaking research and development (R&D) expenditures. This suggests that the association between cash and returns is more consistent with expanding (or maintaining) future growth opportunities rather than being attributable to differences in capital expenditures or risk.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Michael G. Foster School of Business, University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

I thank Hank Bessembinder, Mike Cooper, Thomas Gilbert (the referee), Jarrad Harford (the editor), Gerald Jensen, Karl Lins, Uri Loewenstein, Mitchell Petersen, Marlene Plumlee, Jim Schallheim, and seminar participants at Iowa State University, Northeastern University, University of Arizona, University of Missouri, University of Nebraska, and University of Utah for their helpful comments.

References

Acharya, V.; Davydenko, S. A.; and Strebulaev, I. A.. “Cash Holdings and Credit Risk.” Review of Financial Studies, 25 (2012), 35723609.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Acharya, V., and Pedersen, L. H.. “Asset Pricing with Liquidity Risk.” Journal of Financial Economics, 77 (2005), 375410.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Antoniades, A.Liquidity Risk and the Credit Crunch of 2007–2008: Evidence from Micro-Level Data on Mortgage Loan Applications.” Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 51 (2016), 17951822.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bali, T. G.; Brown, S. J.; Murray, S.; Tang, Y.. “A Lottery-Demand-Based Explanation of the Beta Anomaly.” Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 52 (2017), 23692397.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bernanke, B., and Blinder, A.. “Credit, Money, and Aggregate Demand.” American Economic Review, 78 (1988), 435439.Google Scholar
Bernanke, B., and Blinder, A.. “The Federal Funds Rate and the Channels of Monetary Transmission.” American Economic Review, 82 (1992), 901921.Google Scholar
Brown, J. R.; Fazzari, S. M.; and Petersen, B. C.. “Financing Innovation and Growth: Cash Flow, External Equity, and the 1990s R&D Boom.” Journal of Finance, 64 (2009), 151185.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brunnermeier, M. K., and Pedersen, L. H.. “Market Liquidity and Funding Liquidity.” Review of Financial Studies, 22 (2009), 22012238.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carhart, M.On Persistence in Mutual Fund Performance.” Journal of Finance, 52 (1997), 5782.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chava, S., and Jarrow, R. A.. “Bankruptcy Prediction with Industry Effects.” Review of Finance, 8 (2004), 537569.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chen, N.; Roll, R.; and Ross, S. A.. “Economic Forces and the Stock Market.” Journal of Business, 59 (1986), 383403.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Denis, D. J., and Sibilkov, V.. “Financial Constraints, Investment, and the Value of Cash Holdings.” Review of Financial Studies, 23 (2009), 247269.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dittmar, A., and Mahrt-Smith, J.. “Corporate Governance and the Value of Cash Holdings.” Journal of Financial Economics, 83 (2007), 599634.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duchin, R.; Gilbert, T.; Harford, J.; and Hrdlicka, C.. “Precautionary Savings with Risky Assets: When Cash Is Not Cash.” Journal of Finance, 72 (2017), 793852.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duchin, R.; Ozbas, O.; and Sensoy, B. A.. “Costly External Finance, Corporate Investment, and the Subprime Mortgage Credit Crisis.” Journal of Financial Economics, 97 (2010), 418435.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fama, E. F., and French, K. R.. “Common Risk Factors in the Returns on Stocks and Bonds.” Journal of Financial Economics, 33 (1993), 356.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fama, E. F., and French, K. R.. “Dissecting AnomaliesJournal of Finance, 63 (2008), 16531678.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Faulkender, M., and Wang, R.. “Corporate Financial Policy and the Value of Cash.” Journal of Finance, 61 (2006), 19571990.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frazzini, A., and Pedersen, L. H.. “Betting Against Beta.” Journal of Financial Economics, 111 (2014), 125.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garcia-Feijoo, L.; Jensen, G. R.; and Jensen, T. K.. “Momentum and Funding Conditions.” Journal of Banking and Finance, 88 (2018), 312329.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Griffin, J. M.; Harris, J. H.; Shu, T.; and Topaloglu, S.. “Who Drove and Burst the Tech Bubble?Journal of Finance, 66 (2011), 12511290.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harford, J.; Klasa, S.; and Maxwell, W. F.. “Refinancing Risk and Cash Holdings.” Journal of Finance, 69 (2014), 9751012.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jensen, G. R.; Mercer, J. M.; and Johnson, R. R.. “Business Conditions, Monetary Policy, and Expected Security ReturnsJournal of Financial Economics, 40 (1996), 213237.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jensen, G. R., and Moorman, T. C.. “Inter-Temporal Variation in the Illiquidity Premium.” Journal of Financial Economics, 98 (2010), 338358.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Opler, T.; Pinkowitz, L..; Stulz, R. M.; and Williamson, R.. “The Determinants and Implications of Corporate Cash Holdings.” Journal of Financial Economics, 52 (1999), 346.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Palazzo, B.Cash Holdings, Risk and Expected Returns.” Journal of Financial Economics, 104 (2012), 162185.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pastor, L., and Stambaugh, R. F.. “Liquidity Risk and Expected Stock Returns.” Journal of Political Economy, 111 (2003), 642685.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pinkowitz, L.; Stulz, R. M.; and Williamson, R.. “Do Firms in Countries with Poor Protection of Investor Rights Hold More Cash?Journal of Finance, 61 (2006), 27252751.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pinkowitz, L., and Williamson, R.. “What Is a Dollar Worth? The Market Value of Cash Holdings.” Working Paper, Georgetown University (2004).Google Scholar
Simutin, M.Excess Cash and Stock Returns.” Financial Management, 39 (2010), 11971222.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thorbecke, W.On Stock Market Returns and Monetary Policy.” Journal of Finance, 52 (1997), 635654.CrossRefGoogle Scholar