IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/aes/amfeco/v15y2013i34p417-430.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Profitability determinants of fitness SMEs: Empirical evidence from Portugal using panel data

Author

Listed:
  • Pedro Guedes de Carvalho

    (Sport Sciences Department, Beira Interior University and CIDESD Research Center, UTAD University, Portugal)

  • Zélia Serrasqueiro

    (Management and Economics Department, Beira Interior University and CEFAGE Research Center, Évora University, Portugal)

  • Paulo Maças Nunes

    (Management and Economics Department, Beira Interior University and CEFAGE Research Center, Évora University, Portugal)

Abstract

Based on a sample of 182 small and medium-sized Portuguese fitness firms, using panel data models, this paper studies the determinants of profitability in Portuguese fitness SMEs. The empirical evidence indicates that: i) size, age, liquidity, long-term debt and government subsidies are determinants stimulating profitability in Portuguese fitness SMEs; ii) risk is a restrictive determinant of profitability in Portuguese fitness SMEs; and iii) growth opportunities, in the form of intangible assets, are neither a stimulating nor restrictive determinant of profitability in Portuguese fitness SMEs. The empirical evidence allows us to make important suggestions for political decision-makers and the owners/managers of small and medium-sized Portuguese fitness firms.

Suggested Citation

  • Pedro Guedes de Carvalho & Zélia Serrasqueiro & Paulo Maças Nunes, 2013. "Profitability determinants of fitness SMEs: Empirical evidence from Portugal using panel data," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 15(34), pages 417-430, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:aes:amfeco:v:15:y:2013:i:34:p:417-430
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.amfiteatrueconomic.ro/temp/Article_1210.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zélia Serrasqueiro & Manuel Armada & Paulo Nunes, 2011. "Pecking Order Theory versus Trade-Off Theory: are service SMEs’ capital structure decisions different?," Service Business, Springer;Pan-Pacific Business Association, vol. 5(4), pages 381-409, December.
    2. M. Adams & M. Buckle, 2003. "The determinants of corporate financial performance in the Bermuda insurance market," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(2), pages 133-143.
    3. Giorgio Fagiolo & Alessandra Luzzi, 2006. "Do liquidity constraints matter in explaining firm size and growth? Some evidence from the Italian manufacturing industry," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 15(1), pages 1-39, February.
    4. Pino G. Audia & Henrich R. Greve, 2006. "Less Likely to Fail: Low Performance, Firm Size, and Factory Expansion in the Shipbuilding Industry," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(1), pages 83-94, January.
    5. James S. Ang, 1991. "Small Business Uniqueness and the Theory of Financial Management," Journal of Entrepreneurial Finance, Pepperdine University, Graziadio School of Business and Management, vol. 1(1), pages 1-13, Spring.
    6. David Smallbone & Friederike Welter & Artem Voytovich & Igor Egorov, 2008. "Government and entrepreneurship in transition economies: the case of small firms in business services in Ukraine," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(5), pages 655-670, May.
    7. Diamond, Douglas W, 1989. "Reputation Acquisition in Debt Markets," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(4), pages 828-862, August.
    8. Armenia Androniceanu & Irina-Virginia Drăgulănescu, 2012. "Sustainability of the Organizational Changes in the Context of Global Economic Crisis," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 14(32), pages 365-379, June.
    9. Galbreath, Jeremy & Galvin, Peter, 2008. "Firm factors, industry structure and performance variation: New empirical evidence to a classic debate," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 61(2), pages 109-117, February.
    10. Adelina Gschwandtner, 2005. "Profit persistence in the 'very' long run: evidence from survivors and exiters," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(7), pages 793-806.
    11. Gabriela Ţigu & Bogdan Călăreţu, 2013. "Supply Chain Management Performance in Tourism. Continental Hotels Chain Case," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 15(33), pages 103-115, February.
    12. Jovanovic, Boyan, 1982. "Selection and the Evolution of Industry," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(3), pages 649-670, May.
    13. John Goddard & Manouche Tavakoli & John Wilson, 2005. "Determinants of profitability in European manufacturing and services: evidence from a dynamic panel model," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(18), pages 1269-1282.
    14. Marc Deloof, 2003. "Does Working Capital Management Affect Profitability of Belgian Firms?," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(3‐4), pages 573-588, April.
    15. Cristinel Vasiliu & Mihaela Dobrea, 2013. "State of Implementation of Supply Chain Management in Companies in Romania," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 15(33), pages 44-55, February.
    16. Ward Roofthooft, 2010. "Customer equity: a creative tool for SMEs in the services industry," Service Business, Springer;Pan-Pacific Business Association, vol. 4(1), pages 37-48, March.
    17. Insu Cho & Heejun Park & Jeongil Choi, 2011. "The impact of diversity of innovation channels on innovation performance in service firms," Service Business, Springer;Pan-Pacific Business Association, vol. 5(3), pages 277-294, September.
    18. Teece, David J, 1981. "Internal Organization and Economic Performance: An Empirical Analysis of the Profitability of Principal Firms," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 173-199, December.
    19. Paulo J. Maçãs Nunes & Zélia M. Serrasqueiro & Tiago N. Sequeira, 2007. "Profitability in Portuguese service industries: a panel data approach," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(5), pages 693-707, May.
    20. Marc Deloof, 2003. "Does Working Capital Management Affect Profitability of Belgian Firms?," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(3-4), pages 573-588.
    21. Adelina Gschwandtner, 2005. "Profit persistence in the 'very' long run: evidence from survivors and exiters," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(7), pages 793-806.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Nuno Gonçalves & Carlos Carreira, 2023. "Intangible Capital and Productivity of Portuguese Firms in the Last Decade (2010-2019)," Notas Económicas, Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra, issue 56, pages 110-132, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zélia Serrasqueiro & Paulo Maçãs Nunes, 2008. "Performance and size: empirical evidence from Portuguese SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 31(2), pages 195-217, August.
    2. Paulo Maçãs Nunes & Zélia Silva Serrasqueiro & João Leitão, 2008. "Are there nonlinear relationships between the profitability of Portuguese service SME and its specific determinants?," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(8), pages 1313-1341, August.
    3. Kartal Demirgunes, 2016. "The Effect of Liquidity on Financial Performance: Evidence from Turkish Retail Industry," International Journal of Economics and Finance, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 8(4), pages 63-79, April.
    4. Mazen Kebewar, 2013. "The effect of Debt on Corporate Profitability :Evidence from French Service Sector," Brussels Economic Review, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles, vol. 56(1), pages 43-59.
    5. Paulo Nunes & Marco Gonçalves & Zélia Serrasqueiro, 2013. "The influence of age on SMEs’ growth determinants: empirical evidence," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 40(2), pages 249-272, February.
    6. Pierpaolo Pattitoni & Barbara Petracci & Massimo Spisni, 2014. "Determinants of profitability in the EU-15 area," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(11), pages 763-775, June.
    7. Mazen Kebewar, 2012. "L'Impact De L'Endettement Sur La Profitabilité Une Étude Empirique Sur Données Françaises En Panel," Working Papers halshs-00749685, HAL.
    8. Zélia Serrasqueiro, 2009. "Growth and Profitability in Portuguese Companies: a Dynamic Panel Data Approach," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 11(26), pages 565-573, June.
    9. Nicholas Apergis, 2020. "Financial market imperfections and profitability: New evidence from a large panel of US SME firms," Journal of Forecasting, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(2), pages 220-241, March.
    10. Kebewar, mazen, 2013. "Does debt affect profitability? An empirical study of French trade sector," MPRA Paper 43968, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Alaa Adden A. Abuhommous, 2017. "Net Working Capital and Firm Growth," International Review of Management and Marketing, Econjournals, vol. 7(4), pages 131-137.
    12. Kebewar, Mazen & Shah, Syed Muhammad Noaman Ahmed, 2013. "The effect of debt on corporate profitability: Evidence from French service sector," EconStor Preprints 73556, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    13. Carlo MIGLIARDO & Daniele SCHILIRÒ, 2016. "Mid Sized Italian Manufacturing Firms A Panel Data Analysis on Profitability," Journal of Advanced Studies in Finance, ASERS Publishing, vol. 7(2), pages 129-145.
    14. Kebewar, Mazen, 2012. "La structure du capital et la profitabilité : Le cas des entreprises industrielles françaises [Capital structure and profitability : The case of French industrial firms]," MPRA Paper 42899, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Kebewar, mazen, 2012. "L’Endettement Affecte-T-Il La Profitabilité? Le Cas Des Firmes Agro-Alimentaires Françaises [Does Debt Affect Profitability? The Case Of French Agro-Food Firms]," MPRA Paper 42834, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Mazen Kebewar, 2012. "La structure du capital et la profitabilité : Une étude empirique sur données de panel françaises," Working Papers hal-00751211, HAL.
    17. Mazen Kebewar & Ahmed Shah Syed Muhammad Noaman, 2013. "The effect of debt on corporate profitability Evidence from French service sector," Working Papers halshs-00825178, HAL.
    18. Jan Schiefer & Stefan Hirsch & Monika Hartmann & Adelina Gschwandtner, 2013. "Industry, firm, year and country effects on profitability in EU food processing," Studies in Economics 1309, School of Economics, University of Kent.
    19. Kebewar, mazen & SHAH, Syed Muhammad Noaman Ahmed, 2012. "The effect of debt on corporate profitability: Evidence from French service sector," MPRA Paper 43304, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Hari P. Adhikari & Marcin W. Krolikowski & James Malm & Nilesh B. Sah, 2021. "Working capital (mis)management – impact of executive age," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(1), pages 727-761, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    financial constraints; human kinetics; performance; Portugal; service SMEs;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance
    • L83 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Sports; Gambling; Restaurants; Recreation; Tourism

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:aes:amfeco:v:15:y:2013:i:34:p:417-430. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Valentin Dumitru (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aseeero.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.