The moderating impact of global economic uncertainty on the relationship between CEO attributes and corporate cash-holding behavior

This study examines the moderating role of the World Uncertainty Index (WUI) in the relationship between CEO characteristics and corporate cash-holding behavior in emerging markets. Using a balanced panel of 457 listed non-financial firms in Vietnam from 2015 to 2023 (4113 firm-year observations) and a two-step SGMM approach to address endogeneity, the study analyzes how CEO characteristics, including age, gender, education level, and financial expertise, affect corporate cash holdings. The results show that CEO age and gender have a significant negative effect on cash holdings, while CEOs with financial expertise tend to maintain higher cash levels. Conversely, education level does not show a statistically significant effect. Simultaneously, global economic instability increases the tendency to hold cash and weakens the influence of CEO demographics on liquidity-related decisions. The study contributes to Upper Echelons Theory and the Precautionary Motive Theory by showing that CEO influence on corporate finance policy is not fixed but varies significantly with the macroeconomic uncertainty context. The results also offer important practical implications for businesses and policymakers in managing liquidity amid rising global economic instability. Overall, this study enriches the literature on corporate cash holdings from a corporate governance perspective, extends the application of the WUI to an emerging market, and provides new insights into how leadership traits interact with global uncertainty to influence financial policy decisions.