IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finlet/v89y2026ics1544612325024559.html

Navigating uncertainty and performance: How financial decision-making bridges the gap

Author

Listed:
  • Hunjra, Ahmed Imran

Abstract

This study examines how uncertainty affects corporate financial performance, focusing on the mediating roles of capital budgeting and working capital management. Using survey data from chief financial officers and structural equation modelling, we find that uncertainty weakens capital budgeting effectiveness and constrains working capital, both of which reduce financial performance. The findings emphasise the need to integrate uncertainty into investment planning and liquidity management, enabling firms to strengthen resilience in volatile environments.

Suggested Citation

  • Hunjra, Ahmed Imran, 2026. "Navigating uncertainty and performance: How financial decision-making bridges the gap," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:89:y:2026:i:c:s1544612325024559
    DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2025.109206
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1544612325024559
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.frl.2025.109206?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bijoy Chandra Das & Fakhrul Hasan & Soma Rani Sutradhar, 2024. "The impact of economic policy uncertainty and inflation risk on corporate cash holdings," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 62(3), pages 865-887, April.
    2. Elif Akben-Selcuk, 2024. "Economic Policy Uncertainty and Financial Performance in Emerging Markets," Business Management and Strategy, Macrothink Institute, vol. 15(1), pages 256-264, June.
    3. Ahmed Imran Hunjra, 2018. "Mediating role of dividend policy among its determinants and organizational financial performance," Cogent Economics & Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(1), pages 1558714-155, January.
    4. Hunjra, Ahmed Imran & Arunachalam, Murugesh & Verhoeven, Peter & Colombage, Sisira & Bouri, Elie, 2024. "The interplay of CSR, stakeholder interest management, capital budgeting, and firm performance," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    5. Hites Ahir & Nicholas Bloom & Davide Furceri, 2022. "The world uncertainty index," POID Working Papers 031, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    6. Baum, Christopher F. & Caglayan, Mustafa & Stephan, Andreas & Talavera, Oleksandr, 2008. "Uncertainty determinants of corporate liquidity," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 833-849, September.
    7. Richard Wamalwa Wanzala & Lawrence Obokoh, 2024. "The Effects of Working Capital Management on the Financial Performance of Commercial and Service Firms Listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange in Kenya," Risks, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-11, July.
    8. Nufazil Altaf, 2024. "Working Capital Financing, Firm Performance and Financial Flexibility: Evidence from Indian Hospitality Firms," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 25(2_suppl), pages 199-210, April.
    9. repec:oap:ijaefa:v:3:y:2018:i:1:p:15-20:id:19 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Saud Asaad Al‐Thaqeb & Barrak Ghanim Algharabali & Khaled Tareq Alabdulghafour, 2022. "The pandemic and economic policy uncertainty," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(3), pages 2784-2794, July.
    11. Murillo Campello & Gaurav Kankanhalli, 2024. "Corporate decision-making under uncertainty: review and future research directions," Chapters, in: David J. Denis (ed.), Handbook of Corporate Finance, chapter 15, pages 548-590, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    12. Tang, Ping & Yang, Wenshuai, 2024. "Monetary policy uncertainty and financial risk: The mediating role of corporate investment," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    13. Karl V. Lins & Henri Servaes & Ane Tamayo, 2017. "Social Capital, Trust, and Firm Performance: The Value of Corporate Social Responsibility during the Financial Crisis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 72(4), pages 1785-1824, August.
    14. Wu, Ji & Li, Huimin & Zheng, Dazhi & Liu, Xiaoyan, 2021. "Economic uncertainty or financial uncertainty? An empirical analysis of bank risk-taking in Asian emerging markets," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    15. Golub, Alexander A. & Lubowski, Ruben N. & Piris-Cabezas, Pedro, 2020. "Business responses to climate policy uncertainty: Theoretical analysis of a twin deferral strategy and the risk-adjusted price of carbon," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    16. Phan, Hieu V. & Nguyen, Nam H. & Nguyen, Hien T. & Hegde, Shantaram, 2019. "Policy uncertainty and firm cash holdings," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 71-82.
    17. Xinge Feng & Weijie Luo & Yong Wang, 2023. "Economic policy uncertainty and firm performance: evidence from China," Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(4), pages 1476-1493, October.
    18. Axel K-D. Schulz & Anne Wu & Chee W. Chow, 2010. "Environmental Uncertainty, Comprehensive Performance Measurement Systems, Performance-Based Compensation, and Organizational Performance," Asia-Pacific Journal of Accounting & Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(1), pages 17-39.
    19. Batten, Jonathan A. & Boubaker, Sabri & Kinateder, Harald & Choudhury, Tonmoy & Wagner, Niklas F., 2023. "Volatility impacts on global banks: Insights from the GFC, COVID-19, and the Russia-Ukraine war," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 215(C), pages 325-350.
    20. Hoang-Lan Le & Kieu-Trang Vu & Thi-Bich-Ngoc Le & Ngoc-Khanh Du & Manh Dung Tran, 2018. "Impact of Working Capital Management on Financial Performance: The case of Vietnam," International Journal of Applied Economics, Finance and Accounting, Online Academic Press, vol. 3(1), pages 15-20.
    21. Froot, Kenneth A. & Scharfstein, David S. & Stein, Jeremy C., 2008. "Risk management: coordinating corporate investment and financing policies," RAE - Revista de Administração de Empresas, FGV-EAESP Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo (Brazil), vol. 48(1), January.
    22. Ben S. Bernanke, 1983. "Irreversibility, Uncertainty, and Cyclical Investment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 98(1), pages 85-106.
    23. Ahmed Imran Hunjra & Peter Verhoeven & Qasim Zureigat, 2020. "Capital Structure as a Mediating Factor in the Relationship between Uncertainty, CSR, Stakeholder Interest and Financial Performance," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-18, June.
    24. Tran, Dung Viet & Hoang, Khanh & Nguyen, Cuong, 2021. "How does economic policy uncertainty affect bank business models?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    25. Hoang, Khanh & Nguyen, Cuong & Zhang, Hailiang, 2021. "How does economic policy uncertainty affect corporate diversification?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 254-269.
    26. Vo, Hong & Trinh, Quoc-Dat & Le, Minh & Nguyen, Thuy-Ngan, 2021. "Does economic policy uncertainty affect investment sensitivity to peer stock prices?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 685-699.
    27. Wen, Fenghua & Li, Cui & Sha, Han & Shao, Liuguo, 2021. "How does economic policy uncertainty affect corporate risk-taking? Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 41(C).
    28. He, Chao & Li, Yanxi & Zhu, Jiawei, 2022. "The effect of firm-level perception of uncertainty on innovation: Evidence from China’s listed firms," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 221(C).
    29. Charoenwong, Ben & Kimura, Yosuke & Kwan, Alan & Tan, Eugene, 2024. "Capital budgeting, uncertainty, and misallocation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    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. Lingwen, Kong & Hanye, Gu & Runxiang, Xu & Yang, Zhiguo, 2025. "Firm-level perception of uncertainty and corporate default risk: Evidence from China’s listed firms," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 1082-1096.
    2. Wei, Xing & Wang, Yuxin, 2025. "Exploration of the impact of macroeconomic uncertainty on corporate value and investment behavior," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    3. Nguyen, Duc Nguyen & Nguyen, Canh Phuc & Dang, Le Phuong Xuan, 2022. "Uncertainty and corporate default risk: Novel evidence from emerging markets," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    4. Ranjan DasGupta & Arup Roy, 2025. "Performance shortfall condition and environmental, social, governance performance: Does economic policy uncertainty and national culture matter?," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 36(1), pages 81-132, March.
    5. Yin, Doudou & Si, Deng-Kui & Wang, Yun, 2024. "How does corporate investment respond to trade policy uncertainty in China? The role of political connections," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 1429-1445.
    6. Alam, Ahmed W. & Farjana, Ashupta & Houston, Reza, 2023. "Firm investment steering through state-level policy uncertainty," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(PC).
    7. Tran, Dung Viet & Nguyen, Cuong, 2023. "Policy uncertainty and bank’s funding costs: The effects of the financial crisis, Covid-19 pandemic, and market discipline," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    8. Nguyen, Giang & Vo, Vinh, 2024. "Economic policy uncertainty around the world: Implications for Vietnam," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    9. Dang, Van Dan & Nguyen, Hoang Chung, 2022. "Bank profitability under uncertainty," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 119-134.
    10. Lan, Sushan & Meng, Wanshan, 2024. "Impact of economic policy uncertainty on systemic risk of real enterprises: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 69(PB).
    11. Yao, Meijie & Chen, Wei, 2025. "Government subsidies, economic policy uncertainty and corporate financialization," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 104(PB).
    12. Lai Wan-Fei & Goh Kim-Leng, 2025. "Loan Loss Provisions and Bank Value in the United States: A Moderation Analysis of Economic Policy Uncertainty," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment Journal, De Gruyter, vol. 19(1), pages 1-23.
    13. Shehub Bin Hasan & Md Samsul Alam & Sudharshan Reddy Paramati & Md Shahidul Islam, 2022. "Does firm-level political risk affect cash holdings?," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 59(1), pages 311-337, July.
    14. Justin S. Cox, 2025. "State‐level economic policy uncertainty and Bank loan pricing," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 65(2), pages 1614-1634, June.
    15. Thang Xuan Nguyen, 2023. "Anti-corruption and bank performance: Evidence from a socialist-oriented economy," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 18(10), pages 1-16, October.
    16. Nguyen, Harvey & Pham, Anh Viet & Pham, Man Duy (Marty) & Pham, Mia Hang, 2023. "Business resilience: Lessons from government responses to the global COVID-19 crisis," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(5).
    17. Kang, Jingjing & Yang, Hao, 2025. "Regional economic policy uncertainty, implicit government guarantees and bank's risk-taking," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    18. Bijoy Chandra Das & Fakhrul Hasan & Soma Rani Sutradhar, 2024. "The impact of economic policy uncertainty and inflation risk on corporate cash holdings," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 62(3), pages 865-887, April.
    19. Huang, Ying Sophie & Wu, Jiajia & Guo, Feng, 2022. "Venture capital staging under economic policy uncertainty," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 572-596.
    20. Christos Floros & Emilios Galariotis & Konstantinos Gkillas & Efstathios Magerakis & Constantin Zopounidis, 2024. "Time-varying firm cash holding and economic policy uncertainty nexus: a quantile regression approach," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 341(2), pages 859-895, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:eee:finlet:v:89:y:2026:i:c:s1544612325024559. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/frl .

    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.