Accounting and Financial Management Research Seminar – Miss Garnet Li
Title: CEO Cultural Heritage and Corporate Cash Holdings: An Analysis of the U.S. Tourism Sector
Date: 2 April 2025
Time: 14:00 – 15:00
Venue: NUBS.2.08
If you would like to attend, please register using the following link:
CEO Cultural Heritage and Corporate Cash Holdings: An Analysis of the U.S. Tourism Sector
Speaker: Garnet Li
Garnet Li is a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate specialising in CEO cultural heritage, leadership, corporate finance, and the tourism industry. She holds a Master’s degree in Finance and Management from Loughborough University and is currently conducting her doctoral research under the supervision of Prof. Marwa Elnahass and Dr. Vu Trinh. Her research explores the impact of CEO cultural heritage on leadership effectiveness and corporate financial performance. With strong expertise in econometric analysis, she has advanced proficiency in Stata and a solid foundation in R. Her broader academic interests include market valuation, corporate cash strategies, and the intersection of leadership and organisational performance.
Abstract:
This study examines the impact of CEO immigration and cultural heritage, specifically cultural preferences shaped by CEOs’ immigration backgrounds, on the cash holdings of publicly listed firms in the U.S. tourism and leisure sector. Using a panel sample of S&P 1500-listed tourism and leisure firms from 1999 to 2020, the findings reveal that the effect of CEO immigration on cash holdings varies by generation. Specifically, firms led by first-generation immigrant CEOs (CEO-Gen1) tend to hold higher levels of cash reserves. However, these effects gradually weaken across successive generations of immigrant CEOs. These findings align with agency theory, the pecking order theory, and the trade-off theory, contributing to the limited but growing literature on tourism governance. The study offers valuable insights and policy recommendations for stakeholders in the tourism industry, highlighting the role of CEO cultural background in financial decision-making.