Working capital management and firm profitability: a meta-analysis

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harsh Pratap Singh ◽  
Satish Kumar ◽  
Sisira Colombage

Purpose The purpose of this study is to quantitatively aggregate the findings of prior literature on the effect of working capital management (WCM) on corporate profitability using the meta-analysis technique developed by Hunter et al. (1982). Design/methodology/approach A set of 46 research articles that directly studied the relationship between WCM, and profitability was analyzed for the purpose. In addition to overall meta-analysis, a detailed subgroup study was also conducted to test whether the differences in results are due to moderating effects related to different profitability proxies, economic development of a specific country and size of the firms under study. Findings The findings of this meta-analysis confirm that WCM is negatively associated with profitability, which means an aggressive WCM policy leads to higher profitability. Overall, and in all the subgroup studies, the cash conversion cycle was found to be negatively associated with profitability. Originality/value Unlike narrative literature review papers, this meta-analysis provides quantitatively aggregate evidence on the relationship of WCM and firms’ profitability. To the best of authors’ knowledge, no previous meta-analysis paper is published on the topic.

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 295-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hakim Lyngstadaas ◽  
Terje Berg

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical evidence of whether working capital management (WCM) has an effect on the profitability of small- and medium-sized Norwegian firms. Design/methodology/approach – The data comprise 21,075 Norwegian small- and medium-sized enterprises and 84,300 observations made between 2010 and 2013. Panel data regressions were applied with fixed effects and a two-stage least squares analysis was employed to control for endogeneity. Findings – The results indicate that reducing cash conversion cycle will increase profitability. Even though endogeneity may exist, this does not affect the results from the previous analysis. Similar results are also obtained when industry-specific effects are controlled for, supporting the robustness of the results. The relevance of quadratic dependencies of the profitability on independent variables was also identified and suggests a decreasing trend of return on assets with increasing values of the WCM’s characteristic variables. Research limitations/implications – Drawing on similar studies, this study confirms that WCM is relevant for firms’ profitability. Practical implications – The practice of aggressive working capital policy in Norwegian firms is confirmed by the results of this study. Originality/value – This study contributes to the current research on the relationship between WCM and profitability by using a large dataset to add further robustness to results, and thus verifying whether or not the results in previous studies may be confirmed or not. Moreover, this is the first published study about this relationship among Norwegian firms in different industries, thus filling a gap in similar research conducted in other European countries.


2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 68
Author(s):  
Adrianus Dhimas Setyanto ◽  
Ika Permatasari

AbstractThis study aims to determine the effect of working capital management on firm value. Corporate governance is used as a moderating variable in this study to explore the role of corporate governance in the relationship between working capital management with corporate values. Program participants of Corporate Governance Perception Index (CGPI) are used as a sample during the period from 2003 to 2011 and listed on the Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX). We were using simple linear regression and the testing of moderating effects were calculated by Moderated Regression Analysis (MRA). The results showed that the working capital management has an influence on the value of the firm. However, corporate governance variables failed to moderate the relationship between working capital management and enterprise value. It shows that companies and investors in the market still lack concern for the program response and Corporate Governance Perception Index (CGPI) as an assessment of the application of the principles of corporate governance that has been done by the company .Keywords: Working Capital Management, Cash Conversion Cycle, Corporate Governance, Firm Values


2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaurav S. Chauhan ◽  
Pradip Banerjee

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the existence of an optimal or target level of working capital for the Indian manufacturing firms, and whether firms intensely follow the target or not. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses cash conversion cycle as a measure of net working capital and employs partial-adjustment dynamic panel models to test its target-following behavior. Findings The empirical results show that there is no evidence of systematic target-following behavior of working capital for the Indian manufacturing firms. The results hold true even after dividing the sample into four groups depending on the sign and magnitude of deviation. The results further show that lack of target-following tendency is not quite influenced by varying firm-specific characteristics and, therefore, seems to be a systematic feature across firms in India. Research limitations/implications Scarcity of such working capital management studies across emerging economies, facing several financial constraints, limits the comparison of findings. Future studies should be conducted to confirm the results. Practical implications The findings imply that even though an optimal working capital might exist, emerging market firms may not be able to actively pursue it on account of several financial constraints and managerial considerations. Originality/value The study contributes to the scant existing literature on the target-following behavior of working capital management in the Indian manufacturing firms, representing a typical emerging market facing several financial constraints.


Author(s):  
Anna-Maria Talonpoika ◽  
Sari Monto ◽  
Miia Pirttilä ◽  
Timo Kärri

Purpose – The cash conversion cycle (CCC) is widely used in the academic studies of working capital management and supply chain efficiency. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a modification of this measure that takes into account advance payments as a component of operational working capital. Design/methodology/approach – A new measure, the modified cash conversion cycle (mCCC) is introduced and tested with empirical data of companies in Helsinki Stock Exchange. Findings – The mCCC reveals the real efficiency of operational working capital in companies that receive advance payments to a remarkable extent. Research limitations/implications – The mCCC can be used in empirical analysis in academic studies. In this paper, the empirical data are used only for testing the mCCC. The paper concerns received advance payments, but the mCCC can also be extended also to other components of operational working capital ignored by the traditional CCC. Practical implications – The paper offers insights into the variations of CCC for class teachers, and business practitioners, particularly financiers, who deal with operational working capital, cash flow predictions and calculations. Originality/value – There are current items that may have a remarkable effect on operational working capital, but traditionally only inventories, accounts receivable and accounts payable are discussed. The authors argue that also other current items should be taken into account, if they affect the efficiency of operational working capital. The new mCCC is encouraged to be used instead of the CCC when observing working capital management.


2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 839 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melita Charitou ◽  
Petros Lois ◽  
Halim Budi Santoso

The major objective of this study is to examine the relationship between working capital management and firms profitability. Using a dataset of all Indonesian firms over the period 1998-2010, results show that the Cash Conversion Cycle and Net Trade Cycle are positively associated with the firms profitability. Results also show that firms riskiness, as measured by the debt ratio, is negatively related to the firms Return on Assets. The results of this study should be of interest to executives and major stakeholders, such as investors, creditors, and financial analysts, especially after the recent global financial crisis and the latest collapses of giant organizations worldwide.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 24-34
Author(s):  
Fairuz Sofia Kaharuddin ◽  
Ahmad Rizal Mazlan

This study investigated the relationship between working capital management and profitability of 94 listed Bumiputera-controlled companies in Malaysia for 2006 until 2012. The underlying theory is the trade-off theory of working capital and cash conversion cycle, and its components are used as measures for working capital management. Findings of the panel data regression reveal that inventory conversion period and receivable collection period are significantly negatively correlated to profitability. This suggests that the shorter the period, the higher the profitability of Bumiputera-controlled companies tends to be. However, the cash conversion cycle is significantly and positively correlated to profitability, suggesting that the longer the cash conversion period, the higher the profitability. The payable collection period is not significantly correlated to profitability. The findings of this study assert that in general, Bumiputera-controlled companies are relatively less efficient in its working capital management, as far as the comparison to previous related studies is concerned.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-46
Author(s):  
Irfan Aryawan ◽  
Astiwi Indriani

The aims of this study is to analyze the relationship between working capital management and profitability (return on assets) as a dependent variable and cash conversion cycle (CCC), inventory conversion period (ICP), average collection period (ACP) and average payment period (APP) as independent variables with leverage, liquidity, and size as the controlling variables. The sample of this study are manufacturing companies in the Indonesian Stock Exchange 2013-2017. The analysis using OLS showed that the ACP has a negative and significant effect on ROA and the APP has a positive and significant effect on ROA, meanwhile CCC and ICP has a negative and insignificant effect on ROA.


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 343-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahdi Salehi ◽  
Nadia Mahdavi ◽  
Saeed Zarif Agahi Dari ◽  
Hossein Tarighi

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between access to financial resources, working capital with surplus stock returns and value of the company in Iran. Design/methodology/approach The study population consists of 728 observations and 91 firms listed on the Tehran stock exchange during an eight-year period between 2009 and 2016. The statistical model used in this study is a multivariate regression model; further, the statistical technique used to test the hypotheses is panel data. Findings The results saw a negative and significant linkage between changes in cash and stock’ excess returns, whereas no meaningful association between changes in working capital and stock surplus returns was seen. In other words, an Iranian rial (Iran’s currency) invested in working capital worth less on average than a rial held in cash. Furthermore, the authors realized that in an inflationary economy, firms mainly pay more dividends so as to illustrate better their financial position and also to attract more investors’ trust. The results also indicated that the final value of working capital in the companies that are faced with financial constraints is more than companies that are not faced with financial constraints. Subsequently, after the elimination of the effects of inflation on stock returns, it was found there is not any significant association between the stock’s real return and firm value. Practical implications This is one of the most comprehensive research works in Iran that simultaneously surveys the impacts of access to finance and working capital on firm value. This research warns corporate managers to pay more attention to the importance of keeping cash to finance and manage working capital for profitability and sustainability of their company’s operations. Surely, by understanding the relationship between cash holdings, working capital management and stock surplus return, investors will be able to make appropriate decisions about the optimal choice of funds. Originality/value What really will fascinate other scholars about this paper is the time period of the study because there were unprecedented sanctions against Iran market and many manufacturing industries were in financial strain. Without hesitation, the paper will make aware investors and stakeholders of this fact that cash holdings will be a good way in reducing the corporate financial problems in emerging markets, particularly those markets face financial sanctions like Iran.


Author(s):  
Kumar Sanjay Sawarni ◽  
Sivasankaran Narayanasamy ◽  
Kanagaraj Ayyalusamy

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the impact of the efficiency of working capital management (WCM) on the performance of a sample of Indian companies and explore how the nature of the firm's business influences the significance and direction of this impact.Design/methodology/approachThe data for this study were collected for the period of 2012–2018 for 414 non-financial firms listed on the Bombay Stock exchange. Fixed-effect regression models were run by taking Tobin's Q and return on equity (ROE) as dependent variables, and net trade cycle (NTC) and its components as explanatory variables in the presence of liquidity, leverage, size, age and growth as control variables. Sample firms were segregated into manufacturing, trading and service groups, and regression models were used for all the groups to understand the effect of the nature of a firm's business.FindingsWCM efficiency has a significant impact on the performance of the sample firms. Non-financial Indian firms deliver better financial performance by maintaining lower NTC. Like NTC, its components also impact firm value and profitability. The results report that the significance of the relationship varies depending upon the nature of the firm's business.Originality/valueThe previous research studies had not used a sample of large number of Indian firms. Unlike previous studies, this study reports the influence of the nature of business on the relationship between WCM and firm performance. Further, this paper also examines how the individual components of working capital influence the performance of Indian firms.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nacasius U. Ujah ◽  
Augustine Tarkom ◽  
Collins E. Okafor

PurposeTalented managers arguably remain quintessential to firm value and performance. While the literature offers evidence for the long-term orientation of talented managers, there is a paucity of evidence on the short-term performance of managers. Here, we examine the relationship between managerial talent and working capital management (WCM).Design/methodology/approachThis study primarily employs a panel fixed-effect method controlling for firm-year and firm-industry for non-financial and non-utility firms for the years 1980 through 2016. Also, the authors control of potential bias that may impact the result. These controls include social capital, financial constraints and tests for endogeneity and spurious correlation.FindingsThe authors find the association between managerial talent and WCM to be positive and significant. The results indicate that talented managers have a higher cash conversion cycle. The empirical evidence still holds after controlling for social capital, religiosity and financial constraints. Also, the evidence still holds by employing an interaction term between Tobin's Q as a proxy for investment opportunities and talented managers.Practical implicationsThe finding may lend credence to executive contracts. Human nature, by default, is only vested on a net benefit for self-aggrandization. Self-aggrandization can be evident through structures in managerial contracts. These contracts usually tie consequences to long-term growths. If a benefit is offered based on short-term operational goals, talented managers may do more to the management of working capital.Originality/valueIn the managerial talent literature, talents reflect a holistic picture of one that can succeed in both the short-term and long-term goals of a company. Here, the authors show that talented managers are inefficient in meeting short-term goal – working capital management. Thus, the authors add to the research by providing evidence that talented managers are myopic.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document