In the “be careful what you wish for” department, one of my favorite business columnists warns that cash-rich companies may be courting sizable risks, including misguided capital spending and shareholder revolt. Wall Street Journal Intelligent Investor columnist Jason Zweig often injects his discussions with insights culled from behavioral economics research. Here, he blends comments from famed value investor Benjamin Graham and a much more recent University of British Columbia study to highlight the potential pitfalls looming at companies that horde too much cash.

This is an important issue at the moment, as treasury expert Karen Kroll regularly documents: Hording cash through rigorous working capital management initiatives marks a top priority at numerous companies right now.

That’s a risk, and here’s why.

Companies with the largest cash umbrellas underperformed competitors with the least amount of cash on hand by a significant 0.3 percent per month, according to the finance research Zweig cites.

Say what? Apparently, cash-flush companies tend to lose their edge, according to the research; they’re more apt to take bigger risks than cash-strapped competitors and also risk angering cash-strapped shareholders who rely on dividends (which have been pruned or even eliminated) in tough times.

Yes, cash piles are reassuring during bruising downturns. And working capital management efforts often are necessary in tough times (mainly because the discipline is often ignored in flush times); however, those efforts should be farsighted and thoughtful (think about their impact, weight those effects, and prioritize moves accordingly) rather than shortsighted.

Hammering suppliers to pay quicker and making small-fry suppliers wait longer (listen up, A/P departments who do business with this small-fry service provider!) may help companies address an immediate need, but these moves could deliver painful blows when the big picture (what do we do with the cash) is neglected. ###