US MNCs foreign cash worth less?

CEIBS Professor of Finance Cong Wang and his co-authors, Prof. Jarrad Harford of University of Washington and Kuo Zhang of Xiamen University, looked at a sample of US-listed multinational firms that disclose their foreign cash holdings. The findings show that the more cash a firm holds overseas, the lower shareholders value that cash. The researchers also found that firms with large cash holdings overseas tend to under-invest domestically and over-invest abroad. Read more about Prof. Cong Wang's research on this topic here.

Corporate Tax Reform & MNC's Foreign Cash Holdings

Most US multinational companies park their foreign earnings in jurisdictions with favorable tax policies in order to reduce their tax bill. For example, Ireland charges 12.5 % corporation tax while in the US it’s 35 %. If a multinational wants to repatriate foreign cash back to the US they need to pay the tax difference. CEIBS Prof. Cong Wang explains this taxation issue and discusses how the Trump administration might help solve it, and what the benefits would be. Read more about Prof. Cong Wang's research on this topic here.