IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/23799.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Understanding the Rise in Corporate Cash: Precautionary Savings or Foreign Taxes

Author

Listed:
  • Michael W. Faulkender
  • Kristine W. Hankins
  • Mitchell A. Petersen

Abstract

What has driven the dramatic rise in U.S. corporate cash? Using non-public data, we show that the run-up is not uniform across firms but is concentrated in the foreign subsidiaries of multinational firms. Standard precautionary motives explain only domestic cash holdings, not these burgeoning foreign cash balances. Falling foreign tax rates, coupled with relaxed restrictions on income shifting, are the root of the changing foreign cash patterns. Firms with intellectual property have the greatest ability to shift income to low tax jurisdictions, and their foreign subsidiaries are where we observe the largest accumulations of cash.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael W. Faulkender & Kristine W. Hankins & Mitchell A. Petersen, 2017. "Understanding the Rise in Corporate Cash: Precautionary Savings or Foreign Taxes," NBER Working Papers 23799, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:23799
    Note: CF
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.nber.org/papers/w23799.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. 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.
    2. Grubert, Harry & Mutti, John, 1991. "Taxes, Tariffs and Transfer Pricing in Multinational Corporate Decision Making," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 73(2), pages 285-293, May.
    3. Mitchell A. Petersen, 2009. "Estimating Standard Errors in Finance Panel Data Sets: Comparing Approaches," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(1), pages 435-480, January.
    4. Grubert, Harry, 2003. "Intangible Income, Intercompany Transactions, Income Shifting, and the Choice of Location," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 56(1), pages 221-242, March.
    5. Jarrad Harford & Sandy Klasa & William F. Maxwell, 2014. "Refinancing Risk and Cash Holdings," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 69(3), pages 975-1012, June.
    6. 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.
    7. Martin, J. Spencer & Santomero, Anthony M., 1997. "Investment opportunities and corporate demand for lines of credit," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 21(10), pages 1331-1350, October.
    8. Ran Duchin & Thomas Gilbert & Jarrad Harford & Christopher Hrdlicka, 2017. "Precautionary Savings with Risky Assets: When Cash Is Not Cash," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 72(2), pages 793-852, April.
    9. repec:oup:rfinst:v:25:y::i:11:p:3351-3388 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Fritz Foley, C. & Hartzell, Jay C. & Titman, Sheridan & Twite, Garry, 2007. "Why do firms hold so much cash? A tax-based explanation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(3), pages 579-607, December.
    11. Michael Faulkender & Mitchell Petersen, 2012. "Investment and Capital Constraints: Repatriations Under the American Jobs Creation Act," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 25(11), pages 3351-3388.
    12. Jarrad Harford & Cong Wang & Kuo Zhang, 2017. "Foreign Cash: Taxes, Internal Capital Markets, and Agency Problems," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 30(5), pages 1490-1538.
    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. Milton Harris & Artur Raviv, 2017. "Why Do Firms Sit on Cash? An Asymmetric Information Approach," The Review of Corporate Finance Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 6(2), pages 141-173.
    2. Marie-Baïanne Khder & Simon Ray, 2020. "Cash Accumulation by Non Financial Corporations: New Evidence of the Role of Hedging Needs and Lower Financing Costs in France," Economie et Statistique / Economics and Statistics, Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques (INSEE), issue 520-521, pages 103-124.

    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. Beyer, Brooke & Downes, Jimmy & Rapley, Eric T., 2017. "Internal capital market inefficiencies, shareholder payout, and abnormal leverage," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 39-57.
    2. Hanlon, Michelle & Lester, Rebecca & Verdi, Rodrigo, 2015. "The effect of repatriation tax costs on U.S. multinational investment," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(1), pages 179-196.
    3. Li, Xiafei & Luo, Di, 2020. "Increase in cash holdings of U.S. firms: The role of healthcare and technology industries," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 286-298.
    4. Chang, Ching-Hung & Chen, Sheng-Syan & Chen, Yan-Shing & Peng, Shu-Cing, 2019. "Commitment to build trust by socially responsible firms: Evidence from cash holdings," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 364-387.
    5. Lei, Jin & Qiu, Jiaping & Wan, Chi, 2018. "Asset tangibility, cash holdings, and financial development," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 223-242.
    6. Duong, Huu Nhan & Nguyen, Justin Hung & Nguyen, My & Rhee, S. Ghon, 2020. "Navigating through economic policy uncertainty: The role of corporate cash holdings," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    7. Habib, Ahsan & Monzur Hasan, Mostafa & Al-Hadi, Ahmed, 2017. "Financial statement comparability and corporate cash holdings," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(3), pages 304-321.
    8. 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.
    9. Zheng, Suyan, 2019. "Why do multinational firms hold so much cash? Further evidence on the precautionary motive," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 29-43.
    10. Sven Klingler & Olav Syrstad, 2021. "Disclosing the Undisclosed: Commercial Paper As Hidden Liquidity Suffers," Working Paper 2021/16, Norges Bank.
    11. Javadi, Siamak & Mollagholamali, Mohsen & Nejadmalayeri, Ali & Al-Thaqeb, Saud, 2021. "Corporate cash holdings, agency problems, and economic policy uncertainty," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    12. Enkhtaivan, Bolortuya & Davaadorj, Zagdbazar, 2021. "Do they recall their past? CEOs’ liquidity policies across firms as they switch jobs," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(C).
    13. Al-Hadi, Ahmed & Eulaiwi, Baban & Al-Yahyaee, Khamis Hamed & Duong, Lien & Taylor, Grantley, 2020. "Investment committees and corporate cash holdings," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    14. Thakur, Bhanu Pratap Singh & Kannadhasan, M., 2019. "Corruption and cash holdings: Evidence from emerging market economies," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 1-17.
    15. 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.
    16. Pinkowitz, Lee & Sturgess, Jason & Williamson, Rohan, 2013. "Do cash stockpiles fuel cash acquisitions?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 128-149.
    17. Cardella, Laura & Fairhurst, Douglas & Klasa, Sandy, 2021. "What determines the composition of a firm's cash reserves?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    18. ElBannan, Mona A., 2021. "On the prediction of financial distress in emerging markets: What matters more? Empirical evidence from Arab spring countries," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(C).
    19. Tri Tri Nguyen & Manh Cuong Nguyen & Hung Quang Bui & Tuyet Nhung Vu, 2021. "The cash-holding link within the supply chain," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 57(4), pages 1309-1344, November.
    20. Mortal, Sandra & Nanda, Vikram & Reisel, Natalia, 2020. "Why do private firms hold less cash than public firms? International evidence on cash holdings and borrowing costs," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G31 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Capital Budgeting; Fixed Investment and Inventory Studies
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G35 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Payout Policy

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:nbr:nberwo:23799. 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/nberrus.html .

    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.