The Journal of Finance

The Journal of Finance publishes leading research across all the major fields of finance. It is one of the most widely cited journals in academic finance, and in all of economics. Each of the six issues per year reaches over 8,000 academics, finance professionals, libraries, and government and financial institutions around the world. The journal is the official publication of The American Finance Association, the premier academic organization devoted to the study and promotion of knowledge about financial economics.

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Financial Strength and Product Market Behavior: The Real Effects of Corporate Cash Holdings

Published: 05/07/2010   |   DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.2010.01562.x

LAURENT FRESARD

This paper shows that large cash reserves lead to systematic future market share gains at the expense of industry rivals. Using shifts in import tariffs to identify exogenous intensification of competition, difference‐in‐difference estimations support the causal impact of cash on product market performance. Moreover, the analysis reveals that the “competitive” effect of cash is markedly distinct from the strategic effect of debt on product market outcomes. This effect is stronger when rivals face tighter financing constraints and when the number of interactions between competitors is large. Overall, the results suggest that cash policy encompasses a substantial strategic dimension.


Does Alternative Data Improve Financial Forecasting? The Horizon Effect

Published: 03/07/2024   |   DOI: 10.1111/jofi.13323

OLIVIER DESSAINT, THIERRY FOUCAULT, LAURENT FRESARD

Existing research suggests that alternative data are mainly informative about short‐term future outcomes. We show theoretically that the availability of short‐term‐oriented data can induce forecasters to optimally shift their attention from the long term to the short term because it reduces the cost of obtaining short‐term information. Consequently, the informativeness of their long‐term forecasts decreases, even though the informativeness of their short‐term forecasts increases. We test and confirm this prediction by considering how the informativeness of equity analysts' forecasts at various horizons varies over the long run and with their exposure to social media data.