本文研究了金字塔結構企業集團成員公司距離最終控制人的層級數(后文簡稱金字塔層級)對其現金持有競爭效應的影響及其機制。結果發現:增加現金持有能夠提高企業市場競爭優勢,金字塔層級增加弱化了現金持有競爭效應,金字塔層級對現金持有競爭效應的影響在公司外部融資依賴程度較高、所處經營環境競爭較激烈,以及不確定性程度較高時更加明顯;中介機制檢驗表明,金字塔層級增加通過擴大公司在集團內部資本市場的交易規模,弱化了現金持有競爭效應。此外,我們還排除了基于代理理論的替代性解釋。本文豐富了現金持有競爭效應方面的研究和金字塔集團經濟后果方面的研究。

This paper provides the first empirical analysis on the discrepancies in competition effect of cash-holdings among firms located at different layers of pyramidal business groups and identifying the cause of these discrepancies. The result shows that cash holdings benefit firms’ competitive power, the competition effect of cash holdings is weakened by increase in pyramid layers, which is more pronounced, when firms’ external finance dependence is higher, the market competition is more intense, and the environments uncertainty is higher; meanwhile, expanding business group’s internal markets is an important mediating mechanism for the influence of pyramid layer on competition effect of cash holdings; moreover, we exclude alternative explanation based on agency theory by further tests. This paper not only enriches the research on the competition effect of cash holdings, but also enriches research on the economic consequences of the pyramidal group structure.