ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 outbreak seriously affected all economies, especially the operations of listed companies, around the world. This article studies the impact of COVID-19 on firm-level cash holdings using the difference-in-differences method. It finds that COVID-19 has a significant positive impact on cash holdings in serious-impact industries. Goodwill and goodwill impairment can weaken this positive impact, which may be related to higher business risks in these firms. Therefore, managers should raise firms’ cash holding level during the pandemic to protect firms against contingencies. Managers should also be aware of financing constraints due to risks.
