Research Question/Issue: This paper studies the relationship between country-level unemployment insurance and cash holdings of privately-held firms. When public unemployment insurance is weak, firms may provide alternative unemployment insurance by committing not to lay off workers in bad times. We hypothesize that one way firms can do so is by holding larger cash balances. Research Findings/Insights: Using a large sample covering 388,940 private firms from 32 countries around the world over the 2007-2014 period, we find a negative relationship between public unemployment insurance and cash holdings. This effect is driven by countries where public unemployment insurance is weak or non-existent. We also find that privately-held firms keep a larger part of their new debt issues as cash when public unemployment insurance is weak. Theoretical/Academic Implications: We contribute to a growing literature on an institutionbased view of comparative corporate governance. We show that national governance factors and, more specifically, public unemployment insurance, which protects employees (an important but relatively ignored stakeholder), influences firm cash holdings in a private firm context. Practitioner/Policy Implications: Our findings have important implications for policy design. Specifically, they suggest that labor market institutions designed to support employees can also indirectly benefit their employers because these institutions allow firms to reduce the opportunity cost related to holding larger cash balances.

中文翻译：

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全球私营企业的失业保险和现金持有量

研究问题/问题：本文研究国家层面的失业保险与私营企业现金持有量之间的关系。当公共失业保险薄弱时，企业可能会通过承诺在困难时期不裁员来提供替代性失业保险。我们假设公司可以这样做的一种方法是持有更多的现金余额。研究结果/见解：使用涵盖 2007-2014 年期间全球 32 个国家的 388,940 家私营公司的大型样本，我们发现公共失业保险与现金持有量之间存在负相关关系。这种影响是由公共失业保险薄弱或不存在的国家推动的。我们还发现，当公共失业保险薄弱时，私营公司将大部分新发行的债务以现金形式保留。理论/学术意义：我们为越来越多的关于比较公司治理的机构观点的文献做出了贡献。我们表明，国家治理因素，更具体地说，保护员工（一个重要但相对被忽视的利益相关者）的公共失业保险会影响私营公司环境中的公司现金持有量。从业者/政策影响：我们的发现对政策设计具有重要意义。具体而言，他们建议旨在支持员工的劳动力市场机构也可以间接使雇主受益，因为这些机构允许公司降低与持有更多现金余额相关的机会成本。我们表明，国家治理因素，更具体地说，保护员工（一个重要但相对被忽视的利益相关者）的公共失业保险会影响私营公司环境中的公司现金持有量。从业者/政策影响：我们的发现对政策设计具有重要意义。具体而言，他们建议旨在支持员工的劳动力市场机构也可以间接使雇主受益，因为这些机构允许公司降低与持有更多现金余额相关的机会成本。我们表明，国家治理因素，更具体地说，保护员工（一个重要但相对被忽视的利益相关者）的公共失业保险会影响私营公司环境中的公司现金持有量。从业者/政策影响：我们的发现对政策设计具有重要意义。具体而言，他们建议旨在支持员工的劳动力市场机构也可以间接使雇主受益，因为这些机构允许公司降低与持有更多现金余额相关的机会成本。