Do Corporate Governance Mechanisms Matter for Cash Holdings and Firm Value?

This paper examines the relationships between firm-level corporate governance mechanisms and cash holdings; along with their combined effects on firm value for a sample of firms listed in Singapore and Malaysia. Firms with less effective governance attributes are found to be more inclined to accumul...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: KUSNADI, Yuanto
Format: text
Language:English
Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2011
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soa_research/1141
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pacfin.2011.04.002
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Institution: Singapore Management University
Language: English
Description
Summary:This paper examines the relationships between firm-level corporate governance mechanisms and cash holdings; along with their combined effects on firm value for a sample of firms listed in Singapore and Malaysia. Firms with less effective governance attributes are found to be more inclined to accumulate cash than those with more effective governance. The results support the flexibility hypothesis in that an increase in agency conflicts between managers and minority shareholders leads to entrenched managers having more discretion to hoard cash reserves. In addition, the incremental value of holding excess cash is shown to be negative for firms with a single leadership structure, firms with a pyramidal ownership structure, as well as family-controlled firms. The discounts associated with these firms may reflect investors’ recognition of the possibility of managerial entrenchment.