현금흐름이 현금보유수준 변화에 미치는 영향 :현금성자산증가와 투자부진의 원인 규명을 중심으로

The purpose of this study is to explore the effects of uncertainty, managerial conservatism, and financial constraints on corporate cash management. Unlike previous studies on financial constraints, we measure cash-cash flow sensitivity instead of investment-cash flow sensitivity, as the former substantially reduces the measurement error of Tobin's Q. This study is also different from extant studies on cash management, as it focuses not on the level but on the change of cash holdings. We analyze 247 listed Korean companies' fourteen-year panel data in the period of 1991 to 2004. Some important empirical findings of this study can be summarized as follows: (1) The cash-cash flow sensitivity is significantly positive, indicating that the propensity to save cash out of cash flows is stronger for firms with more cash inflows. (2) The sensitivity is greater in the post-crisis period than in the pre-crisis period, when the sample period is divided by the Korean financial crisis. (3) The sensitivity is higher for firms with higher uncertainty on future profitability and external financing. In addition, we find some evidence that managerial conservatism and financial constraints also affect the sensitivity.