Journal
JOURNAL OF ACCOUNTING AND PUBLIC POLICY
Volume 39, Issue 2, Pages -Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC
DOI: 10.1016/j.jaccpubpol.2020.106741
Keywords
COVID-19; Cash crunch; Liquidity risk; Business taxes; Fiscal policies; Bridge loans
Categories
Funding
- Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MCIU)
- State Research Agency (AEI)
- European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) [PGC2018-101745-A-I00]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
In this paper, we investigate how the COVID-19 health crisis could affect the liquidity of listed firms across 26 countries. We stress-test three liquidity ratios for each firm with full and partial operating flexibility in two simulated distress scenarios corresponding to drops in sales of 50% and 75%, respectively. In the most adverse scenario, the average firm with partial operating flexibility would exhaust its cash holdings in about two years. At that point, its current liabilities would increase, on average, by eight times, suggesting that the average firm would have to resort to the debt market to prevent a liquidity crunch. Moreover, about 1/10th of all sample firms would become illiquid within six months. Finally, we study two different fiscal policies, tax deferrals and bridge loans, that governments could implement to mitigate the liquidity risk. Our analysis suggests bridge loans are more cost-effective to prevent a massive cash crunch. (C) 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available