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Is profitability driven by working capital management? evidence for high-growth firms from emerging Europe

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  • Claudiu Boțoc
  • Sorin Gabriel Anton

Abstract

Despite the importance of high-growth firms (HGFs) for job creation, innovation, and economic development in transition economies, current knowledge on the role of financial decisions in explaining their profitability is limited. The aim of this paper is to examine the relationship between working capital management and firm profitability. Using a panel data set on HGFs from Central, Eastern, and South-Eastern Europe during the time span 2006–2015, we found an inverted U-shape relationship between working capital level and firm profitability. Our findings indicate that HGFs should find and maintain the optimal working capital level that maximizes their profitability. Our results proved to be robust when we employ different methodology (quantile regression), different sub-samples as well as alternative measures of profitability and working capital management. The study highlights the importance of short-term financial decisions in enhancing HGFs’ profitability, with significant implications for academics and practitioners. We contribute to the extant literature by providing empirical evidence on the existence a concave relationship between working capital level and firm profitability for a cross-country sample of firms.

Suggested Citation

  • Claudiu Boțoc & Sorin Gabriel Anton, 2017. "Is profitability driven by working capital management? evidence for high-growth firms from emerging Europe," Journal of Business Economics and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(6), pages 1135-1155, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jbemgt:v:18:y:2017:i:6:p:1135-1155
    DOI: 10.3846/16111699.2017.1402362
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    Cited by:

    1. Sorin Gabriel Anton & Anca Elena Afloarei Nucu, 2020. "The Impact of Working Capital Management on Firm Profitability: Empirical Evidence from the Polish Listed Firms," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-14, December.
    2. Aleksandar Naumoski & Sasho Arsov & Violeta Cvetkoska, 2022. "Asymmetric Information and Agency Cost of Financial Leverage and Corporate Investments: Evidence from Emerging South-East European Countries," Scientific Annals of Economics and Business (continues Analele Stiintifice), Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, vol. 69(2), pages 317-342, June.
    3. Vivien Lefebvre, 2021. "Business group affiliation in rural contexts: Do small firms grow faster through working capital management?," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(4), pages 2453-2476, December.
    4. Turki Alshammari, 2020. "Are Trade Policies Performance Enhancing? The Special Case of the GCC Countries," International Journal of Financial Research, International Journal of Financial Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 11(5), pages 42-55, October.
    5. Abudu Braimah & Yinping Mu & Isaac Quaye & Alhassan Abubakar Ibrahim, 2021. "Working Capital Management and SMEs Profitability in Emerging Economies: The Ghanaian Case," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(1), pages 21582440219, February.
    6. Mihai Carp & Leontina Păvăloaia & Mihai-Bogdan Afrăsinei & Iuliana Eugenia Georgescu, 2019. "Is Sustainability Reporting a Business Strategy for Firm’s Growth? Empirical Study on the Romanian Capital Market," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-21, January.
    7. Wang, Hu, 2023. "Does the financial investment preference of renewable energy firms promote their advance towards sustainable development goals?," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    8. Faisal Mahmood & Dongping Han & Nazakat Ali & Riaqa Mubeen & Umeair Shahzad, 2019. "Moderating Effects of Firm Size and Leverage on the Working Capital Finance–Profitability Relationship: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-14, April.
    9. Kamal Chapagain & Somsak Kittipiyakul & Pisut Kulthanavit, 2020. "Short-Term Electricity Demand Forecasting: Impact Analysis of Temperature for Thailand," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-29, May.
    10. Jaroslav Mazanec, 2022. "Working Capital Management as Crucial Tool for Corporate Performance in the Transport Sector: A Case Study of Slovakia and the Czech Republic," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 10(15), pages 1-22, July.
    11. Anton, Sorin Gabriel & Nucu, Anca Elena Afloarei, 2022. "On the role of institutional factors in shaping working capital management policies: Empirical evidence from European listed firms," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 46(2).
    12. Raysa Geaquinto Rocha & João J. Ferreira, 2022. "Gazelles (High-Growth) Companies: a Bibliometric Science Map of the Field," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 13(4), pages 2911-2934, December.
    13. Ayşegül Toy & Ayhan Kapusuzoğlu & Nildağ Başak Ceylan, 2022. "The Effect of Working Capital Management on the Performance of the Textile Firms: Evidence from Fragile Five Countries (FFCs)," Journal of Research in Economics, Politics & Finance, Ersan ERSOY, vol. 7(4), pages 814-838.
    14. Renata Pakšiová & Denisa Oriskóová, 2020. "Capital Maintenance Evolution using Outputs from Accounting System," Scientific Annals of Economics and Business (continues Analele Stiintifice), Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, vol. 67(3), pages 311-331, September.
    15. Dapeng Yang & Daqing Wu & Luyan Shi, 2019. "Distribution-Free Stochastic Closed-Loop Supply Chain Design Problem with Financial Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-23, February.
    16. Xhelil Bekteshi & Sevdie Alshiqi & Arbana Sahiti Ramushi, 2021. "The Impact Of Corporate Social Responsibility And Working Capital Management On Smes Performance During A Pandemic," Baltic Journal of Economic Studies, Publishing house "Baltija Publishing", vol. 7(5).
    17. Jaroslav Mazanec, 2022. "The Impact of Working Capital Management on Corporate Performance in Small–Medium Enterprises in the Visegrad Group," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-19, March.

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