Discussion paper

DP15073 The risk of being a fallen angel and the corporate dash for cash in the midst of COVID

Data on firm-loan-level daily credit line drawdowns in the United States reveals a corporate
“dash for cash” induced by COVID-19. In the first phase of extreme precaution and heightened
aggregate risk, all firms drew down bank credit lines and raised cash levels. In the second phase
following the adoption of stabilization policies, only the highest-rated firms switched to capital
markets to raise cash. Consistent with the risk of becoming a fallen angel, the lowest-quality
BBB-rated firms behaved more similarly to non-investment grade firms. The observed
corporate behavior reveals the significant impact of credit risk on corporate cash holdings.

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Citation

Acharya, V and S Steffen (2020), ‘DP15073 The risk of being a fallen angel and the corporate dash for cash in the midst of COVID‘, CEPR Discussion Paper No. 15073. CEPR Press, Paris & London. https://cepr.org/publications/dp15073