Organization Capital and Corporate Governance

Abstract

Management with high organization capital, which can be seen as an indicator of superior internal governance, can be expected to exhibit a preference for cash reserves to safeguard assets and mitigate the risk of underinvestment. However, external parties may see high cash reserves as a risk factor for the agency problem. Strong external governance can mitigate the preference of management with high organization capital for cash reserves. The empirical analyses show a positive association between the organization capital of U.S.-listed firms and their cash reserves when controlling for multiple variables. Furthermore, through employing the hostile takeover threat index, I reveal the disciplinary effects of strong external governance. This study adds to the existing literature investigating corporate governance that is useful in corporate decision making.