Covid-19 Pandemic and Cash Holdings of Vietnamese Listed Companies: Analysis of Effects of Goodwill and Financial Constraints

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic has been continuing to negatively impact the economies of many countries worldwide, including Vietnam. This study examines the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the changes in cash holdings of listed companies in Vietnam. Additionally, the author analyzes the influence of goodwill and financial constraints on the relationship between the Covid-19 pandemic and changes in cash holdings of these companies. The study employs the robust System Generalized Method of Moments (GMM-SYS) regression method with a dataset collected from 2011 to 2021, ensuring the reliability of the findings. The results indicate that Vietnamese listed companies tend to hold more cash during the Covid-19 outbreak. Moreover, companies with goodwill tend to hold more cash than companies without goodwill under the impact of the pandemic. Finally, companies facing financial constraints tend to hold less cash than those not facing financial constraints under the impact of Covid-19.