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The effect of proximity to political power on corporate cash policy

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  • Magerakis, Efstathios
  • Pantzalis, Christos
  • Park, Jung Chul

Abstract

We expand on prior evidence that national-level policy uncertainty affects corporate cash policies and hypothesize that political geography has a significant effect on corporate cash holdings as bi-annual shifts in firms' location on the political map give rise to both time- and spatially-varying levels of exposure to policy risk. We use a state-level index of political alignment with the President as a proxy for political geography and empirically confirm that companies headquartered in states closely aligned with the President tend to increase their cash holdings. Moreover, and in line with the notion that policy uncertainty associated with proximity to political power provides a precautionary motive for holding more cash, the cash flow sensitivity of cash is more pronounced among firms that are financially constrained and politically unconnected. Finally, our tests suggest that such corporate cash management policy in the face of exposure to policy risk can have value implications.

Suggested Citation

  • Magerakis, Efstathios & Pantzalis, Christos & Park, Jung Chul, 2023. "The effect of proximity to political power on corporate cash policy," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:corfin:v:82:y:2023:i:c:s0929119923000974
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2023.102448
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    Cited by:

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    2. Christos Floros & Emilios Galariotis & Konstantinos Gkillas & Efstathios Magerakis & Constantin Zopounidis, 2024. "Time-varying firm cash holding and economic policy uncertainty nexus: a quantile regression approach," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 341(2), pages 859-895, October.
    3. Lu, Shengfeng & Sun, Yukun & Tian, Hui & Zhao, Yan, 2024. "Geographical proximity to government and corporate litigation behavior: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    4. Oguzhan Cepni & Riza Demirer & Rangan Gupta & Christian Pierdzioch, 2024. "Political Geography and Stock Market Volatility: The Role of Political Alignment across Sentiment Regimes," Working Papers 202414, University of Pretoria, Department of Economics.
    5. Jawadi, Fredj & Pondie, Thierry M., 2024. "Political uncertainty and macro-financial dynamics in the BRICS," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Political geography; Proximity to political power; Policy risk; Cash policy; Cash flow sensitivity; Precautionary saving motive; Financial constraints;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G18 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • E66 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - General Outlook and Conditions

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