Tone of Media Coverage and Corporate Excess Cash Holdings

Abstract

支晓强，中国人民大学商学院教授、博士生导师，管理学博士；周艳坤，中国人民大学商学院博士研究生。【中文摘要】近年来上市公司的超额现金持有现象引起了学界的普遍关注。媒体作为企业重要的外部治理机制，其报道不仅会影响投资者对公司的认知，也会影响公司各项决策行为。媒体报道数量体现的是媒体对企业的关注程度,而媒体报道语调更能反映出媒体的主观情感。考察媒体报道语调对公司超额现金持有行为的影响是一个富有意义的研究话题。以2007—2019年中国A股上市公司为研究样本,可实证检验媒体报道语调对公司超额现金持有的影响。研究发现,媒体报道语调能够显著地正向影响公司超额现金持有水平，即媒体报道语调越积极，公司超额现金持有水平越高，这一现象在市场竞争程度较大的企业和管理层较为保守的企业中更为明显。此外，拓展性检验还发现,媒体报道语调越积极的公司会降低股利支付,减少并购投资，并且公司的超额现金持有行为不会损害其市场价值。 【Abstract】Using a dataset of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2007 to 2019，this paper empirically examines the impact of tone of media coverage on corporate excess cash holdings. The study finds that tone of media coverage is significantly and positively associated with corporate excess cash holdings. It means that the more positive the tone of media coverage，the more cash held by company. The paper also finds that this phenomenon is more obvious in enterprises with a greater degree of market competition and in enterprises whose executives are conservative. The main results remain valid after a series of robustness tests. In addition，this paper also finds that companies whose media coverage is in the positive tone are more likely to reduce dividend payments and M&A investment，and that their market value will not be hurt by corporate excess cash holdings. This study extends the relevant literature in the field of media coverage and corporate cash holdings，and is of great practical significance for companies to formulate reasonable cash holdings policies.财政部会计名家培养工程；中国人民大学“双一流”跨学科重大创新规划平台——面向国家监督体系建设的审计人才培养跨学科交叉平台支持项