IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolet/v236y2024ics0165176524001010.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Do paid maternity leave mandates affect corporate cash holdings?

Author

Listed:
  • Gao, Shangyi
  • Cheong, Chee Seng
  • Zurbruegg, Ralf

Abstract

This study examines whether paid maternity leave laws affect corporate cash holdings. Using a difference-in-differences approach, we find the staggered introduction of these laws significantly reduce firm cash reserves, especially in labor-intensive industries. Further analysis indicates that increased employee productivity post-adoption associates with declining cash holdings, representing a channel linking these laws to precautionary savings motives.

Suggested Citation

  • Gao, Shangyi & Cheong, Chee Seng & Zurbruegg, Ralf, 2024. "Do paid maternity leave mandates affect corporate cash holdings?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 236(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:236:y:2024:i:c:s0165176524001010
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2024.111618
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165176524001010
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.econlet.2024.111618?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 search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jan-Emmanuel De Neve & Christian Krekel & George Ward, 2019. "Employee wellbeing: the impact on productivity and firm performance," CentrePiece - The magazine for economic performance 556, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    2. 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.
    3. Lawrence M. Berger & Jane Waldfogel, 2004. "Maternity leave and the employment of new mothers in the United States," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 17(2), pages 331-349, June.
    4. Pinka Chatterji & Sara Markowitz & Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, 2011. "Early Maternal Employment and Family Wellbeing," NBER Working Papers 17212, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Andrea Bassanini & Danielle Venn, 2008. "The Impact of Labour Market Policies on Productivity in OECD Countries," International Productivity Monitor, Centre for the Study of Living Standards, vol. 17, pages 3-15, Fall.
    6. Elena Rey & Andreas Kyriacou & José I. Silva, 2021. "Maternity leave and female labor force participation: evidence from 159 countries," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 34(3), pages 803-824, July.
    7. Devos, Erik & Rahman, Shofiqur, 2018. "Labor unemployment insurance and firm cash holdings," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 15-31.
    8. Jan-Emmanuel De Neve & Christian Krekel & George Ward, 2019. "Employee wellbeing, productivity and firm performance," CEP Discussion Papers dp1605, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    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. Wang, Huaxing & Li, Tianzi & Zhu, Junfan & Jian, Youting & Wang, Zeyu & Wang, Zengwen, 2023. "China's new environmental protection law: Implications for mineral resource policy, environmental precaution and green finance," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PB).
    2. Paul Frijters & Christian Krekel & Raúl Sanchis & Ziggi Ivan Santini, 2024. "The WELLBY: a new measure of social value and progress," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-12, December.
    3. Krekel, Christian & De Neve, Jan-Emmanuel & Fancourt, Daisy & Layard, Richard, 2021. "A local community course that raises wellbeing and pro-sociality: Evidence from a randomised controlled trial," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 322-336.
    4. Karpuz, Ahmet & Kim, Kirak & Ozkan, Neslihan, 2020. "Employment protection laws and corporate cash holdings," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    5. Alam, Md Samsul & Safiullah, Md & Islam, Md Shahidul, 2022. "Cash-rich firms and carbon emissions," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    6. Gupta, C.P. & Bedi, Prateek, 2020. "Corporate cash holdings and promoter ownership," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    7. Deng, Lixing & Lai, Shaojie & Liu, Shiang & Pu, Xiaoling, 2022. "Social insurance premiums and corporate cash holdings: Evidence from social insurance law in China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    8. Tahir Akhtar & Mohammad Ali Tareq & Kashif Rashid, 2021. "Chief Executive Officers’ monitoring, board effectiveness, managerial ownership, and cash holdings: evidence from ASEAN," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 15(8), pages 2193-2238, November.
    9. Suman Lodh & Monomita Nandy & Jaskaran Kaur, 2023. "Influence of governance bundles and directors' social capital on cash holding in foreign cross‐listed firms," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(4), pages 4271-4298, October.
    10. Annette Bergemann & Regina T. Riphahn, 2023. "Maternal employment effects of paid parental leave," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(1), pages 139-178, January.
    11. Jia, Jing & Li, Zhongtian, 2024. "Opioid abuse and labor investment efficiency," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 89(PA), pages 1267-1285.
    12. Dai, Yunhao & Tong, Xinchu & Wang, Li, 2022. "Workplace safety accident, employee treatment, and firm value: Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    13. Ania A Drzewiecka, 2023. "From Human Doing to Human Being – The Metacognitive Model for Well-Being Resilience in the Workplace," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 7(11), pages 1023-1048, November.
    14. Petri, Böckerman & Pekka, Ilmakunnas, 2020. "Työhyvinvointi kannattaa. Työolot, työtyytyväisyys ja tuottavuus [Working conditions, job satisfaction and productivity]," MPRA Paper 103484, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Miller, Keaton, 2020. "Sharing the sacrifice, minimizing the pain: Optimal wage reductions," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    16. Bax, Karoline, 2023. "Do diverse and inclusive workplaces benefit investors? An Empirical Analysis on Europe and the United States," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    17. Berton, Fabio & Dughera, Stefano & Ricci, Andrea, 2019. "Unions and Firms' Investments: A Unified View," IZA Discussion Papers 12515, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Zlatev, Julian J. & Rogers, Todd, 2020. "Returnable reciprocity: Returnable gifts are more effective than unreturnable gifts at promoting virtuous behaviors," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 161(S), pages 74-84.
    19. Jiang, Tianqi & Shen, Yi & He, Yali & Wang, Zhao, 2024. "Female government officials and corporate cash holdings," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    20. Karoline Bax, 2022. "Do diverse and inclusive workplaces benefit investors? An Empirical Analysis on Europe and the United States," Papers 2208.10435, arXiv.org, revised Nov 2022.

    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:ecolet:v:236:y:2024:i:c:s0165176524001010. 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/ecolet .

    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.