Title: Does accounting quality predict corporate cash holdings?

Authors: Rajesh Pathak; Ranajee Ranajee; Ranjan Das Gupta

Addresses: Goa Institute of Management, Sanquelim Sattari, Goa, 403505, India ' IBS-Hyderabad, Dontanpally, Shankerpally, Hyderabad, India ' Goa Institute of Management, Sanquelim Sattari, Goa, 403505, India

Abstract: This study empirically examines the role of better accounting quality as a substitute for corporate cash holdings. It uses data for Indian firms during 2006-2016 and employs a host of panel models to test the studied relationship amid a set of idiosyncratic controls and robustness tests. It reports that firms with high discretionary accruals hold high levels of cash, implying poor earnings quality leading to cash accumulation. Results are highly consistent for alternative measures of accounting quality and cash holdings, and are robust to controls of cash holdings antecedents and endogeneity issues. Furthermore, analysis of group-affiliated firms reveals that while group affiliates suffer from poor earnings quality compared to non-affiliates, this does not have bearing on their cash holdings. The results imply that managers of Indian firms should focus on maintaining better accounting quality to alleviate the need to accumulate cash as a means of avoiding fundraising constraints when needed.

Keywords: accounting quality; cash holdings; accruals; business-groups.

DOI: 10.1504/AAJFA.2022.125063

Afro-Asian Journal of Finance and Accounting, 2022 Vol.12 No.4, pp.509 - 525

Received: 05 Jan 2019
Accepted: 16 Jun 2019
Published online: 25 Aug 2022 *

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