Our results provide a comprehensive picture of how firm governance affects the use of cash. We start by
establishing that US firms with weaker governance structures tend to hold lower cash reserves. This comes
about because of the way these firms spend their cash flow. While they actually invest less in R&D, they have
greater capital expenditures and are more frequent acquirers. The payout results show that firms choosing to
pay out some of their excess cash differ in the method of payout depending upon their governance. Firms with
stronger governance structures tend to choose to increase dividends, thereby committing to higher payouts in
the long term. On the other hand, firms with a weaker governance structure select the more flexible option,
choosing to repurchase instead and imposing no commitment on themselves to make future payouts.