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Corruption is a phenomenon that is not just restricted to less developed nations, but also touches developed countries like those in the European Union, often seen as one of the least corrupt economic areas in the world. Corruption practices and perceptions can seriously hinder economic growth and innovation, This can be due to lower access to corporate funding, greater cost of capital, its effects on competition, misallocation of resources, and distortions in the composition of public spending and the effectiveness of government policies. This paper first provides a short discussion and an overview of some academic literature on the link between corruption, financing decisions and economic growth. It then summarizes the findings of the five papers in this special issue on the topic of Corruption in a European context, discusses some insights from their results and finally points out at some avenues for future research in related topics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature about the influence of country corruption on corporate cash holdings is not conclusive as there are studies supporting both a positive and negative relationship. To better explain this relationship, our study introduces a corporate-level mediating variable, i.e. the company's willingness to fight bribery as part of its CSR policy. Using a sample of 1,075 listed firms from 21 European Union countries for the period 2008–2019 (7,771 firm-year observations), we find a partial mediating effect of the corporate anti-bribery policy on the relationship between country corruption and corporate cash holdings. On the one hand, according to the shielding argument, country corruption negatively influences corporate cash holdings. And, on the other hand, there is a mediating effect such that firms in corrupt countries adopt less tough anti-bribery policies and, instead, they reduce their cash holdings both to protect themselves from expropriation and to signal their limit on bribe payments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the effect of corporate governance on a company’s cash holdings, focusing on a firm’s compliance levels with core corporate governance indicators as outlined in the corporate governance report. Utilizing a random effect generalized least squares (GLS) regression model, this study evaluates 812 firm-year observations from Korean publicly traded companies covering the period 2018 to 2021. The results indicate that companies with robust governance structures generally maintain lower levels of cash holdings (coefficient = –0.0263, p-value = 0.044), corroborating the flexibility hypothesis. Moreover, higher compliance levels with governance matters concerning shareholder protection (coefficient = –0.0388, p-value = 0.090) and board of directors (coefficient = –0.0512, p-value = 0.052) are associated with reduced cash holdings. Further analysis, accounting for a firm’s organizational capital, underscores that the inverse relationship between corporate governance and cash holdings is more pronounced in organizations with lesser organizational capital (coefficient = –0.0548, p-value < 0.01). This study contributes empirical evidence showing that strict compliance with core corporate governance indicators, indicative of strong corporate governance, substantially affects a firm’s cash management. Additionally, this study offers valuable insights for regulatory authorities and investors and enhances the existing body of knowledge on the interplay between corporate governance and cash holdings.

This study investigates whether and how the perception of carbon abatement pressure affects corporate financing behavior. The results show that carbon abatement pressure increases corporate cash holdings via the channel of financing constraints, and this positive relationship still holds after a series of robustness tests. This positive relationship is pronounced for private firms, those with higher operational risks, and firms in regions with lower levels of marketization.

The present study aims to examine the firm-level financial determinants of ESG performance. It elucidates what financial resources it takes to enable the integration of ESG practices and improve a firm’s ESG scores, based on a sample of 94 Indian firms listed on the National Stock Exchange of India between 2015 and 2020. Econometrically, the study employs fixed effects and random effects panel data models as an appropriate methodology. The findings show that firm size, asset intangibility, analyst coverage, and operating cash flow influence firms’ ESG scores positively, whereas leveraging and strategic holding impact them negatively. In addition to the mentioned variables, cash holdings positively influence firms’ environmental, social, and governance scores. While dividend yield does not contribute to combined ESG and governance scores, it has a positive impact on a firm’s environmental and social scores. This is the first study examining the determinants of firm-level ESG performance in an emerging market. Results endorse the interaction of legitimacy theory and slack resource theory in determining a firm’s ESG performance. AcknowledgementThe infrastructural support provided by FORE School of Management, New Delhi, India in completing this paper is gratefully acknowledged.

The objective of this paper is to validate the existence of an extensively documented secular upward trend in corporate cash holding. To do this, we use the new data for Poland and review original datasets from Bates et al. [2009] for the U.S. We find no trace of a trend for Poland and believe most trends for the U.S. come from the cash piling toward the end of the sample period. At best, the U.S. trend applies merely to small firms. We believe cash holding is a period-dependent time-varying variable which also depends on external shocks (e.g., the pandemic or tax regulations). We show that simple addition of macro data (GDP in our case) vastly improves models focused only on optimal cash holding and firm-specific characteristics. We call for a new three-stage approach to study corporate cash, in which micro considerations are complemented by macro data and external liquidity shock analysis.

The context of this study focuses on the benefits of debt usability, firm size, and dividend policy in increasing the value of cash-mediated companies in LQ45 companies for the period 2017-2020. This study aims to find out and analyze the effect of debt, firm size, and dividend policy on the firm's value, either directly or indirectly, through the mediation of cash holdings. The samples in this study are LQ45-indexed companies from 2017-2020. The samples in this study fall into the purposive sampling category, where respondents are selected based on the criteria specified in this study. The sample numbered 24 companies that can be processed. The analysis method used is descriptive analysis and regression of panel data using the Eviews 10 software application. The results showed that increasing the firm's size will decrease the firm's value while increasing the dividend policy will increase the firm's value. Debt and cash holdings are unable to affect the value of the firm. In addition, only variable debt can negatively affect cash holdings, while the size of the firm and its dividend policy cannot affect cash holdings. This research implies that companies indexed LQ45 need to pay attention to optimal cash holding adequacy because it can be influenced by company debt so that the company can maintain its position in the LQ45 index.

Since Almeida et al. (J Financ 59:1777–1804, 2004), there has been a long debate on whether the cash flow sensitivity of cash (CFSC) measures financial constraints. Like all measures of financial constraints, CFSC is not a perfect one. Thus, how to measure financial constraints with CFSC effectively is an important issue. This paper shows that when a firm does not save through external financing, the CFSC can be effectively used to measure financial constraints. However, for firms saving from external financing, CFSC does not effectively measure financial constraints, especially when firms use external funds as substitutes for internal ones. The reason is that CFSC does not only reveal the propensity to save from cash flows but also the internal-external financing relation, which is not necessarily linked to financial constraints. Two identification methods are used to confirm our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work aimed to examine the effect of corporate cash holdings on financial performance. The data covered 536 non-financial firms for the 2006–2020 period from 11 MENA region countries. This study used fixed- and random-effects testing models. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that aimed to study the effect of corporate cash holdings on financial performance in MENA countries in two aspects: linear and non-linear relationships. By using the return on assets, return on equity, earnings before interest, and the tax margin as the indicators of financial performance, we developed two groups of models investigating the linear and non-linear relationships between cash holdings and profitability measures. The models included several control variables, namely leverage, firm size, sales growth rate, tangibility, dividend pay-out ratio, and gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate. The results of this study revealed that both the linear and non-linear models produced significant results for the return on assets and the return on equity, but for the earnings before interest and tax margins, the linear model was insignificant. The non-linear models indicated an optimal level of cash holdings. In this context, the policymakers must actively evaluate these policies, such as working capital management and its effect on financial performance. In addition, the policymakers must consider macroeconomic conditions when designing corporate cash-holding policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the effect of CEO marital status on corporate cash holdings. Consistent with the classical agency framework, we find that firms with single CEOs hold more cash compared to otherwise similar firms with married CEOs and that the excess cash held by single CEOs is significantly discounted by shareholders. Our findings survive a battery of tests to ease endogeneity and selection bias, confirming that results are not simply reflecting innate heterogeneity in preferences. Overall, our findings indicate that a variable outside the common firm‐ and macro‐level determinants, CEO marital status, can significantly influence corporate policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theoretical background: High levels of cash holdings allow companies to be financially flexible. Cash holders can react to business opportunities at once, and avoid dependence on external financing. Having cash reserves acts as a protective cushion from possible business shocks. However, cash holdings, like other asset items, incur cost. The direct costs mostly relate to obtaining and servicing of financing. Excessive cash may also induce the agency problem of free cash flow. Information asymmetry, among other factors, influences cost of capital and the efficiency of investor monitoring. Earnings management strategies are related to the informativeness of financial reports, as they can either support or disturb the assessment of company risk and performance. Hence, companies search for tailor-made strategies that usefully trade-off the benefits and costs of cash reserves and earnings quality. Purpose of the article: Earnings management occurs either via intervention in the reporting process using accruals, or changing the structure or the timing of real business transactions. This study aims to assess the differences in accrual and real earnings management strategies between firms with relatively high and low cash reserves. Based on a sample of non-financial companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in Poland, this research provides evidence on the relationship between the level of cash holdings and earnings quality. Research methods: Earnings management is proxied with annual cross-sectional regressions estimated in non-financial GICS sectors. The Jones and the modified Jones model allow to estimate expected accruals. Using the Roychowdhury approach, normal cash flow from operations, normal production costs, and normal discretionary expenses are estimated. These normal levels are compared with their actual value to proxy for accrual- and real-earnings management. Next, each company was assigned to one of two groups, depending on the level of cash holdings relative to the annual industry medians. Parametric and non-parametric tests were used to test statistical significance. Main findings: The empirical results show statistically significant differences in accrual and real earnings management between companies with relatively high and low cash reserves. Cash holders seem to be more likely to manage earnings via shifting accruals between periods. However, there is no evidence that any of the groups boosted earnings more. Unsigned earnings management proxies suggest lower informativeness of financial reports for companies with cash buffers. Cash holdings were positively related to activities aimed at reducing fixed costs per unit and savings on discretionary expenses. Summing up, this research shows that companies with greater information asymmetry related to poor earnings quality preferred to hold larger cash reserves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to shed light on the effects of financial constraints on the value shareholders attribute to cash holdings in firms listed on the Brazilian stock exchange, where corporate law determines that publicly listed companies set aside part of their annual profits for dividend payments. While prior empirical literature provides evidence that cash holdings are more valuable for financially constrained companies than for their unconstrained counterparts, we cannot support the hypothesis that the market value of cash increases as obtaining access to external funds becomes more difficult. Our analysis also reveals that constrained companies do not hold significantly higher cash savings than their unconstrained peers. This last result, in turn, is not in line with the precautionary motive for having cash. Moreover, although the principal argument for adopting mandatory dividend rules in Brazil was to increase the protection of minority shareholders, we observe that the contribution of cash holdings to firm value is still small in Brazil, especially in dual‐class companies, because investors expect cash holdings to be partly consumed as private benefits due to the presence of significant agency problems. This research is relevant because it serves as an additional step in understanding how a legal mechanism established by a government to protect investors affects the contribution of cash holdings to firm value. Governments that intend to adopt mandatory dividend rules to safeguard the cash‐flow rights of minority shareholders can use our findings to make better decisions regarding whether to enforce compulsory dividend payments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of company managers' most important financial decisions is to choose an optimal level of cash holdings so that cash deficit costs are reduced, and profit resources are directed in line with the company's profitability goals. Managers' overconfidence is one of the most critical factors affecting the company's cash Holdings. The raison d'être of overconfidence is the peace that people get from it. In this regard, the current research aims to mathematically investigate the effect of managers' overconfidence on cash Holdings in companies listed on the Baghdad Stock Exchange in the ten years between 2012 and 2022. The statistical population of this research was the companies admitted to the Baghdad Stock Exchange, and 50 companies were selected using the systematic elimination method. A multivariate regression method and combined data were used to test the hypotheses. The research findings based on mathematical analysis showed that managers' overconfidence does not affect companies' cash Holdings on the Baghdad Stock Exchange. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the relationship between institutional fragility and corporate cash holdings. Using data from China between 2004 and 2017, we find that institutional fragility is associated with increased corporate cash holdings. The relationship is stronger for non-state-owned enterprises and stronger when firms have no relationship with banks. Furthermore, we find that institutional fragility reduces current investment opportunities, leading to an increase in corporate cash holdings. Investment opportunities play an intermediary effect; hence, institutional fragility affects corporate cash holdings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Business strategy's impact on firm cash holdings and dividend payouts has largely remained unexplored. We identify a fundamental and direct link between a firm's business strategy and its cash holdings and dividend payouts. Analysing two large samples of data on US firms over the period 1992–2017, we find strong evidence that prospectors (defenders) are likely to hold more (less) cash and pay less (more) dividends than other firms. Further analysis suggests that prospectors pay dividends less frequently than do defenders. The results are robust to a battery of robustness checks and additional analysis. Overall, the results suggest that identifying a firm's business strategy significantly helps to understand a firm's cash holdings and dividend payout decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maintaining an optimal level of liquidity remains a crucial agenda for firms to minimise liquidity risks. Therefore, the study aims to identify the drivers of liquidity by utilizing firm-level data of 1,544 microfinance institutions (MFIs), covering a total of 112 developing countries and a period of 2010–2018. The data were then analysed using conventional econometric tools and techniques. Among others, the study found that board size, portfolio quality, donations and size of MFIs have a positive effect on the liquidity of MFIs, while gender diversity at the board level, operational self-sustainability, staff productivity, legal status and gross domestic product (GDP) growth revealed a negative effect. After conducting several robustness checks, including alternative proxies, sub-samples and endogeneity-corrected techniques, our findings remain mostly consistent. Policy implications are further discussed.

In the last decade, gender diversity on boards or women in the boardroom has gained the attention of academics and practitioners. This paper aims to explore how women directors affect corporate cash holdings in Indonesia. This study utilizes data on Kompas 100 index firms for 2014–2021. A fixed-effect estimator is used to analyze data. The study reveals that female directors positively influence cash holdings. This finding remains robust when employing an alternative proxy for female directors and excluding observations during the COVID-19 period. Additionally, the findings indicate notable variations in cash holdings between companies with and without female directors. Regarding control variables, a firm’s cash holdings are negatively influenced by board size, leverage, company size, and net working capital. Firm profitability and growth opportunities positively influence cash holdings. This paper also documents that institutional ownership weakens the nexus between female directors and cash holding. The findings highlight that female directors hold higher amounts of cash because of their increased risk aversion. This study enriches the discussion on female directors and cash-holding levels in a developing country with a two-tiered board system. AcknowledgmentsThis study is not funded by any funding agency.

This study analyzes the impact of knowledge capital (KC), a key element of firms’ innovation and competitiveness, on stock returns during economic crises when sustainable competitiveness becomes particularly important. We analyze the impact of the Global Financial Crisis and COVID-19 as economic crises, focusing on manufacturing industries with a high proportion of investment shifts from physical capital to KC. Our findings indicate that KC is positively associated with stock returns during the Global Financial Crisis and COVID-19. This positive relationship is strengthened by the firm’s ability to leverage KC, as measured by greater product market share, higher Tobin’s Q, and larger cash holdings. This study emphasizes the protective role of KC during the economic crisis when the market pays more attention to corporate sustainability and provides implications to corporate managers and investors.

ABSTRACTThe psychological factors of senior executives have an important impact on the firm’s financial policies. In this paper, we investigate the association between CEO risk-taking entrepreneurial spirit and firm cash holdings, and find that firms with higher CEO risk-taking entrepreneurial spirit have less cash holdings. Further, we find that financing constraints can mitigate the negative association between CEO risk-taking entrepreneurial spirit and firm cash holdings, whereas financing needs enhances the association between them. Mechanism test illustrates that CEO risk-taking entrepreneurial spirit affects firm cash holdings through corporate investment. Finally, the results reveal that CEO risk-taking entrepreneurial spirit not only promotes the value of cash holdings, but also is significantly positively associated with both accounting performance and market performance. Our findings shed lights on the impact of executive psychological factors on financial decisions and have important implications for cash-holding decisions of listed firms.

Purpose: This paper analyses the relationship between information asymmetry and the cash hoarded by companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE). Methodology/approach: We applied the Ordinary Least Squares approach to cross-sectional data of the 212 most liquid public companies for which data on bid-ask spread was available.Findings: We show that companies with greater information asymmetry hold more cash, confirming the investment opportunities hypothesis. The average bid-ask spread negatively impacts cash reserves, no matter the character of discretionary accruals. Net working capital and cash flow to non-cash asset ratios positively affect cash holdings, in contrast to the debt ratio. The results show that the costs of monitoring managers are lower than information asymmetry costs in Poland and suggest that holding more cash is more beneficial than going into debt. The default risk or the threat of borrowing costs rising in turbulent times is worse than a loss due to keeping cash. Research limitations/implications: Research limitations concern cross-sectional data only for one year – 2017.Originality/value: Our paper is the first study of the relationship between information asymmetry and cash holdings for the transition economy. The novelty of our research is also the use of a different approach to measure information asymmetry in the Polish capital market.

AbstractThis research study examines the mediating role of cash holdings between the economic policy uncertainty (EPU) and corporate leverage relationship. Using stepwise regression analysis and annual firm-level data of 2,534 U.S. firms listed at NYSE over 1995–2018, we provide novel evidence that cash holdings significantly and partially mediate the EPU-leverage relationship, accounting for a 10.72% increase in the corporate leverage during EPU. We discover that the mediating role of cash holdings between EPU and leverage is sensitive to firm-level heterogeneity. Also, the mediating effect of cash holdings remains significant based on long- and short-term leverage. Finally, our findings are robust to outliers’ effect, alternate EPU measurement, endogeneity concerns and sample-selection bias. The findings of this study highlighted the role of firm cash holdings in a firm’s leverage decision during economic uncertainty and recommends increasing debt financing to incentivize value-increasing decisions and mitigate agency problems by reducing the cost of free cash flows. Policymakers should be aware of public and private firms’ challenges during high EPU. As we showed in this study, firms have to adjust their financial decisions during high economic uncertainty. Also, the study suggests that policymakers should maintain economic policies to avoid external shocks that may force firms to adjust their financial decision-making.

AbstractThis study examines the motives of corporations in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries to hold cash with a focus on institutional characteristics related to the threat of political extraction. Using firm-level financial data and macro-level and institutional data and applying the GMM estimation method, the study finds that corruption (a proxy of the threat of political extraction) is positively related to cash holdings which suggests that the risk of political extraction induces GCC firms to accumulate cash to make political payoffs and preserve their financial flexibility. In terms of firm-level characteristics, GCC firms follow a pecking order as they deplete more cash the larger their capital expenditures. In addition, GCC firms save cash for transaction and precautionary purposes as indicated by the negative relation between cash and cash substitutes. This is the first study to examine the threat of political extraction on cash holdings using the context of the GCC, a cash-rich region with unique institutional settings. The findings on the GCC countries contribute to the ongoing debate regarding the political extraction-cash holdings relationship by examining a context under which corruption is likely to exert a positive impact on the level of cash holdings.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze tax avoidance as a source of financing. While tax avoidance has been investigated, we extend prior analyses to investigate whether the components of total cash tax savings - permanent and temporary cash tax savings - are used differently. We find that temporary tax savings are used for investment to a greater extent than permanent tax savings and that investment levels are partially sticky after temporary savings reverse. We perform a range of cross-sectional analyses based on characteristics of the firm and the firm's operating environment. In all cross-sectional analyses, we find that temporary tax savings are used for real investment to a greater extent than permanent tax savings. Finally, we find that cross-sectional heterogeneity in the usage of tax savings is primarily driven by heterogeneity in the usage of temporary tax savings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the impact on corporate cash holdings of international merger and acquisition (M&A) laws, which facilitate corporate takeovers. We use the staggered enactment of M&A laws from 1992 to 2005 and a sample spanning 34 jurisdictions, and find that levels of corporate cash holdings increase after passage of M&A laws. We also find that firms with better operating performance, higher earnings volatility, higher P/E ratio, and in jurisdictions with high M&A intensity hoard more cash after the enactment of M&A laws. These firms decrease dividends and capital expenditure and increase cash‐based acquisitions in the post‐M&A law period. Additional analysis shows that the effect is manifested in the subsample of firms in jurisdictions with better institutional environments. Lastly, we find that investor valuations of cash holdings decrease after the enactment of M&A laws. Collectively, our results suggest that managers hoard cash to finance M&A activities after the enactment of M&A laws, driven by the motive of empire‐building, and that cash hoarding behaviors are viewed by investors as value‐decreasing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Buddhism and Taoism have been deeply rooted in China for generations and both of them have a profound impact on the local culture and social norms. By employing 23,999 firm‐year observations between 2008 and 2018, we examine how local religious norms affect corporate cash policies. We provide strong evidence that religiosity significantly reduces the level of corporate cash holdings, by mitigating financial constraints and earnings management of the listed companies. Managers from religious areas make more effective investments and distribute more dividends. Furthermore, our findings document that religion has a more pronounced influence on cash holdings amongst the firms with the smaller size, lower leverage, higher marketization, effective internal control and facing fierce market competition. Overall, Buddhism and Taoism, constituting the main religious norms in China, significantly optimize the firms' cash holdings and firm value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we show that the churning generated by listing and delisting is a key mechanism for disseminating new financial norms regarding cash and debt among listed nonfinancial firms in the U.S. after 1980. Over this period, cash holdings have grown markedly across the distribution of listed U.S. nonfinancial corporations, while indebtedness has fallen in less indebted firms. Surprisingly, these trends are particularly dramatic among the most financially fragile listed firms, which generate insufficient cash flows to service their financial obligations (what Minsky terms 'Ponzi' firms). In this paper, we use quantile decompositions to show that these long-term trends in cash and debt are driven by churning among listed firms during the 1980s and 1990s, when listing and delisting rates are high. The reason is that firms list with more cash and less debt, and delist with less cash and more debt, than continuing firms. This mechanism is particularly strong among listed Ponzi firms. Our results highlight the importance of institutional changes surrounding access to equity finance and Initial Public Offerings, rather than changing behavior within continuing firms, for trends in listed firms' financing behavior since 1980. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Management with high organization capital, which can be seen as an indicator of superior internal governance, can be expected to exhibit a preference for cash reserves to safeguard assets and mitigate the risk of underinvestment. However, external parties may see high cash reserves as a risk factor for the agency problem. Strong external governance can mitigate the preference of management with high organization capital for cash reserves. The empirical analyses show a positive association between the organization capital of U.S.-listed firms and their cash reserves when controlling for multiple variables. Furthermore, through employing the hostile takeover threat index, I reveal the disciplinary effects of strong external governance. This study adds to the existing literature investigating corporate governance that is useful in corporate decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The psychological factors of senior executives have an important impact on the firm's financial policies. In this paper, we investigate the association between CEO risk-taking entrepreneurial spirit and firm cash holdings, and find that firms with higher CEO risk-taking entrepreneurial spirit have less cash holdings. Further, we find that financing constraints can mitigate the negative association between CEO risk-taking entrepreneurial spirit and firm cash holdings, whereas financing needs enhances the association between them. Mechanism test illustrates that CEO risk-taking entrepreneurial spirit affects firm cash holdings through corporate investment. Finally, the results reveal that CEO risk-taking entrepreneurial spirit not only promotes the value of cash holdings, but also is significantly positively associated with both accounting performance and market performance. Our findings shed lights on the impact of executive psychological factors on financial decisions and have important implications for cash-holding decisions of listed firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corporate excess savings, or gross savings in excess of fixed capital formation, can affect the real economy through the financial decisions of individual firms. Based on an unbalanced panel of more than 2,000 Korean listed companies from 2003 to 2021, this study analyses how excess savings are used in individual firms' financial activities and their consequent impact on aggregate demand at the macroeconomic level. Excess savings are most often used for debt repayment. Considering heterogeneity, the excess savings of large firms are mainly related to M&A, while the excess savings of small firms are relatively more disbursed to cash holdings for the precautionary motive. Since 2010, the extent of its use in M&A has become stronger; M&A in large firms appears to crowd out fixed capital formation for a certain period of time. When this analysis is applied at the industry level, it is also consistent with the results of individual firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the presence of agency costs, managers retain cash for their own benefit at the expense of shareholder wealth. Extending prior literature on the role of corporate governance in mitigating the effects of agency conflicts on corporate cash holdings, we study a governance mechanism that has largely been overlooked, namely, corporate codes of ethics. We find a negative association between code of ethics quality and cash holdings, which suggests that managers hold less cash when the firm has a strong code of ethics in place. The effect is greater when agency costs are elevated due to weaker country‐level investor protections. We also find that payouts and the marginal value of cash holdings to investors are increasing in code quality. Overall, our results are consistent with codes of ethics helping to limit opportunistic behaviour from managers when determining the firm's level of cash holdings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]