We construct a model to show that predatory strategies by a financially strong rival can cause a financially weak firm to underinvest. This threat intensifies when the two firms produce similar products and share similar future investment opportunities. We show that cash holdings become more valuable by providing liquidity to fund investment opportunities as they emerge, thereby mitigating the underinvestment problem. Empirical evidence supports these model predictions. The value of cash is significantly higher for firms facing higher predatory threats. The results are robust to various controls for financial constraints, corporate governance, risk factors, and industry‐level measures of product market competition. An identification strategy that exploits exogenous variation in financial constraints further corroborates the causal effect of predatory threats on the value of cash.

We construct a model to illustrate the dynamics of cash-flow volatility (CFV) and firm valuation. As a firm progressively invests in its growth opportunities, its book value increases and catches up with its market value, reducing the valuation multiple (Q). CFV decreases because of the diversification effect of investing in more market segments. We document a positive CFV-Q association, which varies with firm size, investment opportunities, and the correlation across market segments. Empirical findings strongly support the model's predictions and are robust to alternative explanations offered by extant studies on firm growth, volatility, and valuation.

Some languages encode future timing more ambiguously than others. We identify two economic channels through which more ambiguous reference to future timing leads to higher levels of R&D investment. Our empirical tests on country-and firm-level R&D investment confirm this prediction, even after controlling for an extensive set of formal and informal economic institutions and addressing endogeneity concern in multiple ways. Tests on patent generation provide further evidence that ambiguous reference to future timing leads to more innovation.

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