本文以台灣上市公司為樣本，探討現金持有與現金持有價值如何隨著公司生命週期而變化。以公司年齡為公司生命週期代理變數，本文發現，公司現金持有比例隨著公司年齡增長而逐漸下降。而此單調遞減現象可由預防性動機來解釋：相對於成熟公司，台灣年輕公司普遍具有較大的產業平均現金流量波動度、較高的研發支出率與較嚴重的財務赤字等特性；而此等特性隱含在面對現金流量不足與財務危機的不利衝擊時，年輕公司將承受較高成本，因而傾向持有較多現金。本文另發現台灣上市公司的現金持有價值亦隨著公司年齡增長而逐漸下降，此結果支持年輕公司相較於成熟公司具有較高融資限制的理論預期。整體而言，本文研究結果與預防性動機假說的財務意涵相符。

Building upon Keynes (1936) precautionary motive hypothesis, this paper tests how cash holding and cash value vary with corporate life cycle for firms listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE). By employing firm age as a proxy for corporate life cycle, we find that the ratio of cash holding decreases with firm age. Such a monotonic decreasing pattern in cash ratios can be explained by the precautionary motive hypothesis. Relative to mature firms, Taiwan's young firms tend to hold more precautionary-based cash due to greater industry-level volatility in cash flows, greater R&D intensity, and higher financing deficits, in which case adverse shocks and financial distress are more costly for them. Another key finding in this paper is that the value of cash holding also decreases with firm age, reflecting the fact that young firms are more financially constrained than are mature firms in Taiwan. Overall, our results are consistent with the prediction of the precautionary motive hypothesis.