IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nbp/nbpbik/v42y2011i5p41-60.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

About some difficulties with interpreting and measuring corporate performance

Author

Listed:
  • Julia

    (University of Gdańsk)

Abstract

Corporate performance constitutes one of the most important issues of both theory and practice in many areas of economics. The paper deals with the problem of multiplexity of corporate performance and the diversity of ways in which the term is interpreted in the literature. It also attempts to formulate a versatile definition, while organising the discrepancies in this area. Therefore, the way corporate performance is understood in the theory and practice of industrial economics was compared with the approach applied in corporate finance. The difficulties in defining corporate performance unambiguously result in a number of problems with measuring it and, as a result with conducting a fully objective and reliable evaluation of an economic entity. These problems also result from the imperfections of financial ratios as instruments used for measuring and characterising corporate performance. The study presents the idea of financial ratios and their main classification systems, as well as features the most important limitations of their application.

Suggested Citation

  • Julia, 2011. "About some difficulties with interpreting and measuring corporate performance," Bank i Kredyt, Narodowy Bank Polski, vol. 42(5), pages 41-60.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbp:nbpbik:v:42:y:2011:i:5:p:41-60
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://bankikredyt.nbp.pl/content/2011/05/bik_05_2011_02_art.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Frost, Ca, 1994. "Discussion Of The Effects Of Accounting Diversity - Evidence From The European-Union," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32, pages 169-175.
    2. Peltzman, Sam, 1977. "The Gains and Losses from Industrial Concentration," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 20(2), pages 229-263, October.
    3. Demsetz, Harold, 1973. "Industry Structure, Market Rivalry, and Public Policy," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 16(1), pages 1-9, April.
    4. Kessides, Ioannis N, 1990. "Internal versus External Market Conditions and Firm Profitability: An Exploratory Model," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 100(402), pages 773-792, September.
    5. Ron Adner & Constance E. Helfat, 2003. "Corporate effects and dynamic managerial capabilities," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(10), pages 1011-1025, October.
    6. Yu, Qiao & Du, Bin & Sun, Qian, 2006. "Earnings management at rights issues thresholds--Evidence from China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(12), pages 3453-3468, December.
    7. Hawawini, Gabriel & Subramanian, Venkat & Verdin, Paul, 2004. "The home country in the age of globalization: how much does it matter for firm performance?," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 121-135, May.
    8. Claver, Enrique & Molina, José & Tarí, Juan, 2002. "Firm and Industry Effects on Firm Profitability:: a Spanish Empirical Analysis," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 321-328, June.
    9. Gabriel Hawawini & Venkat Subramanian & Paul Verdin, 2003. "Is performance driven by industry‐or firm‐specific factors? A new look at the evidence," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(1), pages 1-16, January.
    10. Schmalensee, Richard, 1985. "Do Markets Differ Much?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(3), pages 341-351, June.
    11. Burgstahler, David & Dichev, Ilia, 1997. "Earnings management to avoid earnings decreases and losses," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 99-126, December.
    12. Jean Tirole, 1988. "The Theory of Industrial Organization," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262200716, April.
    13. Cabral, Luis M. B., 2000. "Introduction to Industrial Organization," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262032864, April.
    14. Anita M. McGahan & Michael E. Porter, 2002. "What Do We Know About Variance in Accounting Profitability?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 48(7), pages 834-851, July.
    15. Yiannis E. Spanos & George Zaralis & Spyros Lioukas, 2004. "Strategy and industry effects on profitability: evidence from Greece," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(2), pages 139-165, February.
    16. Stuart McLeay & Duarte Trigueiros, 2002. "Proportionate Growth and the Theoretical Foundations of Financial Ratios," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 38(3), pages 297-316, October.
    17. Peter Walton, 1997. "The true and fair view and the drafting of the Fourth Directive," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(4), pages 721-730.
    18. ANITA M. McGAHAN & MICHAEL E. PORTER, 1997. "How Much Does Industry Matter, Really?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(S1), pages 15-30, July.
    19. Caloghirou, Yiannis & Protogerou, Aimilia & Spanos, Yiannis & Papagiannakis, Lefteris, 2004. "Industry-Versus Firm-specific Effects on Performance:: Contrasting SMEs and Large-sized Firms," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 231-243, April.
    20. Charoenwong, Charlie & Jiraporn, Pornsit, 2009. "Earnings management to exceed thresholds: Evidence from Singapore and Thailand," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 221-236, July.
    21. Sea‐Jin Chang & Harbir Singh, 2000. "Corporate and industry effects on business unit competitive position," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(7), pages 739-752, July.
    22. José A. C. Moreira & Peter F. Pope, 2007. "Earnings Management to Avoid Losses: a cost of debt explanation," CEF.UP Working Papers 0704, Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia do Porto.
    23. Elizabeth Laderman, 2006. "Market power and relationships in small business lending," Working Paper Series 2007-07, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
    24. Peter Walton, 1993. "Introduction: the true and fair view in British accounting," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 2(1), pages 49-58.
    25. Richard P. Rumelt, 1991. "How much does industry matter?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(3), pages 167-185, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Goddard, John & Tavakoli, Manouche & Wilson, John O.S., 2009. "Sources of variation in firm profitability and growth," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 62(4), pages 495-508, April.
    2. Vicente López-López & Susana Iglesias-Antelo & Esteban Fernández, 2020. "Is Sustainable Performance Explained by Firm Effect in Small Business?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-13, December.
    3. Spyridon Stavropoulos & Martijn J. Burger & Dimitris Skuras, 2015. "Data Sparseness and Variance in Accounting Profitability," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 15-014/VII, Tinbergen Institute.
    4. Raza, Syed Ali & Farooq, M. Shoaib & Khan, Nadeem, 2011. "Firm and industry effects on firm profitability: an empirical analysis of KSE," MPRA Paper 36797, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Weiß, Christian, 2010. "The Ownership Concentration of Firms: Three Essays on the Determinants and Effects," EconStor Theses, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, number 30247, September.
    6. Stefan Hirsch & Jan Schiefer, 2016. "What Causes Firm Profitability Variation in the EU Food Industry? A Redux of Classical Approaches of Variance Decomposition," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(1), pages 79-92, January.
    7. Ksenija Dencic-Mihajlov, 2014. "Profitability During the Financial Crisis Evidence from the Regulated Capital Market in Serbia," South-Eastern Europe Journal of Economics, Association of Economic Universities of South and Eastern Europe and the Black Sea Region, vol. 12(1), pages 7-33.
    8. Kolias, Georgios D. & Dimelis, Sophia P. & Filios, Vasilios P., 2011. "An empirical analysis of inventory turnover behaviour in Greek retail sector: 2000-2005," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(1), pages 143-153, September.
    9. Juan Carlos Bou & Albert Satorra, 2003. "The persistence of abnormal returns at industry and firm levels," Economics Working Papers 729, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    10. Luiz Claudio Louzada & Márcio Augusto Gonçalves, 2018. "The Moderating Effect of the Sector’s Level of Concentration on the Relationship Between Balance Sheet Composition and the Firm’s Competitive Advantage," Brazilian Business Review, Fucape Business School, vol. 15(6), pages 512-532, November.
    11. Muhammad Azeem Qureshi & Fred H. Strønen & Marius Tyseng & Marius Urdal, 2020. "Sustainable Business in Norway: The Firm or the Industry Effect?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-13, April.
    12. Pankaj Kumar & Xiaojin Liu & Akbar Zaheer, 2022. "How much does the firm's alliance network matter?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(8), pages 1433-1468, August.
    13. André Ribeiro Gonçalves & Rogério H Quintella, 2006. "The role of internal and external factors in the performance of brazilian companies and its evolution between 1990 and 2003," RAC - Revista de Administração Contemporânea (Journal of Contemporary Administration), ANPAD - Associação Nacional de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa em Administração, vol. 10(spe), pages 117-136.
    14. K. O’Shaughnessy & Eric Gedajlovic & Patrick Reinmoeller, 2007. "The influence of firm, industry and network on the corporate social performance of Japanese firms," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 283-303, September.
    15. Chen, Yi-Min, 2010. "The continuing debate on firm performance: A multilevel approach to the IT sectors of Taiwan and South Korea," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(5), pages 471-478, May.
    16. Bart S. Vanneste, 2017. "How Much Do Industry, Corporation, and Business Matter, Really? A Meta-Analysis," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 2(2), pages 121-139, June.
    17. Andonova, Veneta & Ruíz-Pava, Guillermo, 2016. "The role of industry factors and intangible assets in company performance in Colombia," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(10), pages 4377-4384.
    18. Kohls, Tobias & Mager, Ferdinand & Regele, Tobias, 2023. "Competitive advantage and firm, industry, and country effects: An asset pricing perspective," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    19. Ketelhöhn, Niels W. & Quintanilla, Carlos, 2012. "Country effects on profitability: A multilevel approach using a sample of Central American firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 65(12), pages 1767-1772.
    20. 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.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    corporate performace; industrial organisation; corporate finance; financial ratios;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance

    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:nbp:nbpbik:v:42:y:2011:i:5:p:41-60. 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: Wojciech Burjanek (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/nbpgvpl.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.