IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jeborg/v170y2020icp362-371.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

International diversification and corporate cash holding behavior: What happens during economic downturns?

Author

Listed:
  • Benkraiem, Ramzi
  • Lakhal, Faten
  • Zopounidis, Constantin

Abstract

This study uses fixed-effect regressions estimated with heteroskedasticity-consistent standard errors to investigate the effect of international diversification on corporate cash holding behavior of French-listed firms during economic downturns. The findings show that internationally diversified firms are less inclined to save cash out of their cash flows than their undiversified counterparts. However, during economic downturns, the relationship shifts and shows that international diversification is positively associated with the propensity of firms to save cash out of their cash flows. The negative relationship between international diversification and the propensity of firms to save cash out of their cash flows suggests that risk-reducing effects coupled with easy access to external finance prevail over the high agency costs and information asymmetry associated with international companies. However, during economic slumps, this relationship becomes positive, highlighting a significant influence of the financial crisis on internationally diversified firms relative to their stand-alone counterparts. Thus, this study should provide useful insights for academics, practitioners as well as financial regulators.

Suggested Citation

  • Benkraiem, Ramzi & Lakhal, Faten & Zopounidis, Constantin, 2020. "International diversification and corporate cash holding behavior: What happens during economic downturns?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 362-371.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:170:y:2020:i:c:p:362-371
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2019.12.016
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167268119303993
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jebo.2019.12.016?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 look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Galai, Dan & Masulis, Ronald W., 1976. "The option pricing model and the risk factor of stock," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(1-2), pages 53-81.
    2. Ranajee Ranajee & Rajesh Pathak, 2019. "Corporate cash holding during crisis and beyond: what matters the most," International Journal of Managerial Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 15(4), pages 492-510, March.
    3. Thomas W. Bates & Kathleen M. Kahle & René M. Stulz, 2009. "Why Do U.S. Firms Hold So Much More Cash than They Used To?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(5), pages 1985-2021, October.
    4. Rebecca N. Hann & Maria Ogneva & Oguzhan Ozbas, 2013. "Corporate Diversification and the Cost of Capital," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 68(5), pages 1961-1999, October.
    5. Ozkan, Aydin & Ozkan, Neslihan, 2004. "Corporate cash holdings: An empirical investigation of UK companies," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(9), pages 2103-2134, September.
    6. David J. Denis & Valeriy Sibilkov, 2010. "Financial Constraints, Investment, and the Value of Cash Holdings," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(1), pages 247-269, January.
    7. Jensen, Michael C, 1986. "Agency Costs of Free Cash Flow, Corporate Finance, and Takeovers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(2), pages 323-329, May.
    8. Ivalina Kalcheva & Karl V. Lins, 2007. "International Evidence on Cash Holdings and Expected Managerial Agency Problems," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 20(4), pages 1087-1112.
    9. 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.
    10. Doukas, John A. & Pantzalis, Christos, 2003. "Geographic diversification and agency costs of debt of multinational firms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 59-92, January.
    11. Raghuram Rajan & Henri Servaes & Luigi Zingales, 2000. "The Cost of Diversity: The Diversification Discount and Inefficient Investment," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(1), pages 35-80, February.
    12. Edwards, Jeremy S.S. & Weichenrieder, Alfons J., 2009. "Control rights, pyramids, and the measurement of ownership concentration," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 72(1), pages 489-508, October.
    13. Chris M. Lawrey & Brandon C. L. Morris, 2019. "Corporate diversification and abnormal returns," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 20(1), pages 31-37, February.
    14. David M Reeb & Chuck C Y Kwok & H Young Baek, 1998. "Systematic Risk of the Multinational Corporation," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 29(2), pages 263-279, June.
    15. Francis Wright & Jeff Madura & Kenneth Wiant, 2002. "The differential effects of agency costs on multinational corporations," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(5), pages 347-359.
    16. Caulkins, Jonathan P. & Feichtinger, Gustav & Grass, Dieter & Hartl, Richard F. & Kort, Peter M. & Seidl, Andrea, 2015. "Capital stock management during a recession that freezes credit markets," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 1-14.
    17. Garrido-Prada, Pablo & Delgado-Rodriguez, Maria Jesús & Romero-Jordán, Desiderio, 2019. "Effect of product and geographic diversification on company performance: Evidence during an economic crisis," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 269-286.
    18. Charles J P Chen & C S Agnes Cheng & Jia He & Jawon kim, 1997. "An Investigation of the Relationship between International Activities and Capital Structure," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 28(3), pages 563-577, September.
    19. Han, Seungjin & Qiu, Jiaping, 2007. "Corporate precautionary cash holdings," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 43-57, March.
    20. Kim, Young Sang & Mathur, Ike, 2008. "The impact of geographic diversification on firm performance," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 747-766, September.
    21. Tarun Khanna & Yishay Yafeh, 2005. "Business Groups and Risk Sharing around the World," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 78(1), pages 301-340, January.
    22. Carmen Martínez-Carrascal, 2010. "Cash holdings, firm size and access to external finance. Evidence for the euro area," Working Papers 1034, Banco de España.
    23. Ramzi Benkraiem, 2013. "How do corporate characteristics affect capital structure decisions of French SMEs?," Post-Print hal-01121029, HAL.
    24. Mikkelson, Wayne H. & Partch, M. Megan, 2003. "Do Persistent Large Cash Reserves Hinder Performance?," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 38(2), pages 275-294, June.
    25. Wolfgang Drobetz & Matthias Grüninger, 2007. "Corporate cash holdings: Evidence from Switzerland," Financial Markets and Portfolio Management, Springer;Swiss Society for Financial Market Research, vol. 21(3), pages 293-324, September.
    26. Harris, Milton & Raviv, Artur, 1988. "Corporate control contests and capital structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(1-2), pages 55-86, January.
    27. Bigelli, Marco & Sánchez-Vidal, Javier, 2012. "Cash holdings in private firms," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 26-35.
    28. Hughes, John S. & Logue, Dennis E. & Sweeney, Richard James, 1975. "Corporate International Diversification and Market Assigned Measures of Risk and Diversification," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(4), pages 627-637, November.
    29. Martin Glaum & Michael-Jörg Oesterle, 2007. "40 years of research on internationalization and firm performance: More questions than answers?," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 307-317, June.
    30. Yakov Amihud & Baruch Lev, 1981. "Risk Reduction as a Managerial Motive for Conglomerate Mergers," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 12(2), pages 605-617, Autumn.
    31. Lewellen, Wilbur G, 1971. "A Pure Financial Rationale for the Conglomerate Merger," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 26(2), pages 521-537, May.
    32. Chung, Richard & Firth, Michael & Kim, Jeong-Bon, 2005. "Earnings management, surplus free cash flow, and external monitoring," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 58(6), pages 766-776, June.
    33. Ran Duchin, 2010. "Cash Holdings and Corporate Diversification," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(3), pages 955-992, June.
    34. Fatemi, Ali M, 1984. "Shareholder Benefits from Corporate International Diversification," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 39(5), pages 1325-1344, December.
    35. repec:bla:jfinan:v:59:y:2004:i:4:p:1777-1804 is not listed on IDEAS
    36. M. Harris & C. H. Kriebel & A. Raviv, 1982. "Asymmetric Information, Incentives and Intrafirm Resource Allocation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(6), pages 604-620, June.
    37. Tong, Zhenxu, 2011. "Firm diversification and the value of corporate cash holdings," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 741-758, June.
    38. Bao, Dichu & Chan, Kam C. & Zhang, Weining, 2012. "Asymmetric cash flow sensitivity of cash holdings," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 690-700.
    39. Alan M. Rugman & Alain Verbeke & Quyen T. K. Nguyen, 2011. "Fifty Years of International Business Theory and Beyond," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 51(6), pages 755-786, December.
    40. Denis, David J & Denis, Diane K & Sarin, Atulya, 1997. "Agency Problems, Equity Ownership, and Corporate Diversification," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(1), pages 135-160, March.
    41. Hyman P. Minsky, 1982. "Can “It” Happen Again? A Reprise," Challenge, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(3), pages 5-13, July.
    42. Ali Uyar & Cemil Kuzey, 2014. "Determinants of corporate cash holdings: evidence from the emerging market of Turkey," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(9), pages 1035-1048, March.
    43. Jarrad Harford, 1999. "Corporate Cash Reserves and Acquisitions," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(6), pages 1969-1997, December.
    44. Sattar A. Mansi & David M. Reeb, 2002. "Corporate Diversification: What Gets Discounted?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(5), pages 2167-2183, October.
    45. Atanasova, Christina & Li, Mingxin, 2019. "Do all diversified firms hold less cash? The role of product market competition," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 134-152.
    46. Volkov, Nikanor I. & Smith, Garrett C., 2015. "Corporate diversification and firm value during economic downturns," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 160-175.
    47. repec:bfr:bullbf:2013:196:01 is not listed on IDEAS
    48. Miguel A. Ferreira & Antonio S. Vilela, 2004. "Why Do Firms Hold Cash? Evidence from EMU Countries," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 10(2), pages 295-319, June.
    49. Kim, Chang-Soo & Mauer, David C. & Sherman, Ann E., 1998. "The Determinants of Corporate Liquidity: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 33(3), pages 335-359, September.
    50. Lins, Karl V. & Servaes, Henri & Tufano, Peter, 2010. "What drives corporate liquidity? An international survey of cash holdings and lines of credit," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(1), pages 160-176, October.
    51. Carlino, L. & Dairay, G. & Mangin, C. & Servant, F., 2014. "La rentabilité des grands groupes français s’érode en 2013, mais leur trésorerie reste stable et leur structure financière se conforte," Bulletin de la Banque de France, Banque de France, issue 196, pages 1-18.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Onali, Enrico & Mascia, Danilo V., 2022. "Corporate diversification and stock risk: Evidence from a global shock," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    2. Feng, Yumei & Yao, Shouyu & Wang, Chunfeng & Liao, Jing & Cheng, Feiyang, 2022. "Diversification and financialization of non-financial corporations: Evidence from China," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    3. Şirin Özlem & Omer Faruk Tan, 2022. "Predicting cash holdings using supervised machine learning algorithms," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 8(1), pages 1-19, December.
    4. Shaista Wasiuzzaman & Ali Uyar & Cemil Kuzey & Abdullah S. Karaman, 2022. "Corporate social responsibility: Is it a matter of slack financial resources or strategy or both?," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(6), pages 2444-2466, September.

    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. Abdul Rashid & Maryam Ashfaq, 2017. "Financial Constraints And Corporate Cash Holdings: An Empirical Analysis Using Firm Level Data," Annals of Financial Economics (AFE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 12(02), pages 1-26, June.
    2. Jan Felix Weidemann, 2018. "A state-of-the-art review of corporate cash holding research," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 88(6), pages 765-797, August.
    3. Amess, Kevin & Banerji, Sanjay & Lampousis, Athanasios, 2015. "Corporate cash holdings: Causes and consequences," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 421-433.
    4. Ahrends, Meike & Drobetz, Wolfgang & Nomikos, Nikos K., 2018. "Corporate cash holdings in the shipping industry," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 107-124.
    5. Hsuan-Chu Lin & She-Chih Chiu, 2017. "Tradeoff on corporate cash holdings: a theoretical and empirical analysis," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 49(3), pages 727-763, October.
    6. Efstathios Magerakis & Konstantinos Gkillas & Athanasios Tsagkanos & Costas Siriopoulos, 2020. "Firm Size Does Matter: New Evidence on the Determinants of Cash Holdings," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-35, July.
    7. Hou, Canran & Liu, Huan, 2020. "Foreign residency rights and corporate cash holdings," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    8. Maurizio Rocca & Raffaele Staglianò & Tiziana Rocca & Alfio Cariola & Ekaterina Skatova, 2019. "Cash holdings and SME performance in Europe: the role of firm-specific and macroeconomic moderators," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 53(4), pages 1051-1078, December.
    9. Ahrends, Meike & Drobetz, Wolfgang & Puhan, Tatjana Xenia, 2018. "Cyclicality of growth opportunities and the value of cash holdings," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 74-96.
    10. Qazi Awais Amin & Tom Williamson, 2021. "Firms cash management, adjustment cost and its impact on firms’ speed of adjustment: a cross country analysis," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 56(1), pages 53-89, January.
    11. Ernie Hendrawaty, 2019. "Value of Excess Cash Holdings of Financially Unconstrained Companies," Contemporary Economics, University of Economics and Human Sciences in Warsaw., vol. 13(3), September.
    12. Tiziana La Rocca & Maurizio La Rocca & Francesco Fasano & Alfio Cariola, 2023. "Does a country's environmental policy affect the value of small and medium sized enterprises liquidity in the energy sector?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(1), pages 277-290, January.
    13. Clarkson, Peter & Gao, Ru & Herbohn, Kathleen, 2020. "The relationship between a firm’s information environment and its cash holding decision," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(2).
    14. Quang Trinh, Vu & Elnahass, Marwa & Duong Cao, Ngan, 2021. "The value relevance of bank cash Holdings: The moderating effect of board busyness," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    15. Cristina Martínez-Sola & Pedro J. García-Teruel & Pedro Martínez-Solano, 2018. "Cash holdings in SMEs: speed of adjustment, growth and financing," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 51(4), pages 823-842, December.
    16. Bigelli, Marco & Sánchez-Vidal, Javier, 2012. "Cash holdings in private firms," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 26-35.
    17. Sun, Wenyi & Yin, Chao & Zeng, Yeqin, 2023. "Precautionary motive or private benefit motive for holding cash: Evidence from CEO ownership," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    18. Cortes, Felipe, 2021. "Firm opacity and the opportunity cost of cash," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    19. Saleh F. A. Khatib & Dewi Fariha Abdullah & Ernie Hendrawaty & Ahmed A. Elamer, 2022. "A bibliometric analysis of cash holdings literature: current status, development, and agenda for future research," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 72(3), pages 707-744, September.
    20. Yogesh Maheshwari & K.T. Vigneswara Rao, 2017. "Determinants of Corporate Cash Holdings," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 18(2), pages 416-427, April.

    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:jeborg:v:170:y:2020:i:c:p:362-371. 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/jebo .

    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.