Cash holdings in the US healthcare industry: Do different types of uncertainty matter?

Abstract

This study examines the effects of economic policy uncertainty, categorical economic policy uncertainties, and pandemic uncertainty on the cash holdings of firms operating in the US healthcare industry. The SYS-GMM methodology is applied for 466 firms from 2001 to 2022. The results show that all uncertainties positively affect cash holdings contemporaneously, albeit at different magnitudes. Monetary policy, healthcare policy, and fiscal policy uncertainties are the most influential uncertainties, supporting the financial frictions and real options theories. Controlling for the severity of the pandemic over time, pandemic uncertainty has a positive contemporaneous effect and a negative lagged effect on cash holdings.