What Do Firms Do with Cash Windfalls?

49 Pages Posted: 14 Aug 2007 Last revised: 20 Feb 2022

See all articles by Olivier J. Blanchard

Olivier J. Blanchard

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Peterson Institute for International Economics

Andrei Shleifer

Harvard University - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes

SKEMA Business School; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Date Written: January 1993

Abstract

Suppose that a firm receives a cash windfall which does not change its investment opportunity set, or equivalently its marginal Tobin's Q. What will this firm do with the money? We provide empirical answers to this question using a sample of firms with such windfalls in the form of a won or settled lawsuit. We examine a variety of decisions of the firm to shed light on alternative theories of corporate financing and investment. Our evidence is broadly inconsistent with the perfect capital markets model. The results need to be stretched considerably to fit the asymmetric information model in which managers act in the interest of shareholders. The evidence supports the agency model of managerial behavior, in which managers try to ensure the long run survival and independence of the firms with themselves at the helm.

Suggested Citation

Blanchard, Olivier J. and Shleifer, Andrei and Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio, What Do Firms Do with Cash Windfalls? (January 1993). NBER Working Paper No. w4258, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=478706

Olivier J. Blanchard (Contact Author)

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) ( email )

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Peterson Institute for International Economics ( email )

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Andrei Shleifer

Harvard University - Department of Economics ( email )

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United States
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617-496-1708 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.economics.harvard.edu/~ashleife/

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

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Belgium

HOME PAGE: http://www.ecgi.org

Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes

SKEMA Business School ( email )

Avenue Willy Brandt, Euralille
Lille, 59777
France

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

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