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Journal of Financial Economics Vol. 132 No. 1 2019

Dynamic corporate liquidity

Boris Nikolov1,2; Lukas Schmid3,4; Roberto Steri2,1

1 University of Lausanne · 2 Swiss Finance Institute · 3 Duke University · 4 Centre for Economic Policy Research

open access

Abstract

In contrast to cash holdings, credit lines give firms financial flexibility by providing liquidity contingent on realized funding needs, but they are often limited by collateral and covenants. We embed this trade-off into an estimated dynamic model of financing and investment. Our model highlights the relevance of drawing down credit lines to fund investment options in an effective way and quantitatively matches well the levels and dynamics of cash, credit lines, and leverage. In the cross-section, modeling credit lines as contingent liquidity provides novel empirical predictions and rationalizes several stylized facts regarding credit line usage, covenant violations, and cash holdings.

DOI
10.1016/j.jfineco.2017.06.018
Volume
132
Issue
1
Pages
76-102
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

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