IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ids/ijecbr/v6y2013i1p69-86.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The use of financial data to monitor competing models of firm growth

Author

Listed:
  • Tarek Ibrahim Eldomiaty
  • Mohamed Hashem Rashwan

Abstract

This paper examines three possible explanations for firm growth: 1) a firm grows according to the growth of sales revenue; 2) a firm grows according to cost savings; 3) a firm grows according to the two factors simultaneously. The paper introduces a new measure for firm growth based on sales-weighted growth of fixed assets. The estimation method uses the properties of the discriminant analysis to build three Z-score models, each of which discriminates low-growth firms from high-growth firms based on: a) sales ratios; b) cost ratios; c) sales and cost ratios together. The results show that the three discriminant models have approximately the same discriminant power (60%). This means that revenue and cost factors are used simultaneously as drivers of firm growth. This result supports the notion that Gibrat's and Viner's theories of firm growth complement each other. The results have practical implications for financial managers regarding the sales and cost factors that are to be considered to promote firm growth.

Suggested Citation

  • Tarek Ibrahim Eldomiaty & Mohamed Hashem Rashwan, 2013. "The use of financial data to monitor competing models of firm growth," International Journal of Economics and Business Research, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 6(1), pages 69-86.
    • Handle: RePEc:ids:ijecbr:v:6:y:2013:i:1:p:69-86
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=54842
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lucas, Robert E, Jr & Prescott, Edward C, 1971. "Investment Under Uncertainty," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 39(5), pages 659-681, September.
    2. Sinkey, Joseph F, Jr, 1975. "A Multivariate Statistical Analysis of the Characteristics of Problem Banks," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 30(1), pages 21-36, March.
    3. John Sutton, 1997. "Gibrat's Legacy," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(1), pages 40-59, March.
    4. repec:uts:ppaper:v:21:y:2005:i:1:p:93-105 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Yao, Tong & Yu, Tong & Zhang, Ting & Chen, Shaw, 2011. "Asset growth and stock returns: Evidence from Asian financial markets," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 115-139, January.
    6. Deakin, Eb, 1972. "Discriminant Analysis Of Predictors Of Business Failure," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(1), pages 167-179.
    7. Goddard, John & Wilson, John & Blandon, Peter, 2002. "Panel tests of Gibrat's Law for Japanese manufacturing," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 415-433, March.
    8. 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.
    9. Edmister, Robert O., 1972. "An Empirical Test of Financial Ratio Analysis for Small Business Failure Prediction," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 7(2), pages 1477-1493, March.
    10. Michael J. Cooper & Huseyin Gulen & Michael J. Schill, 2008. "Asset Growth and the Cross‐Section of Stock Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(4), pages 1609-1651, August.
    11. Coltman, Tim & Devinney, Timothy M. & Midgley, David F. & Venaik, Sunil, 2008. "Formative versus reflective measurement models: Two applications of formative measurement," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 61(12), pages 1250-1262, December.
    12. Jong-Rong Chen & Wen-Cheng Lu, 2003. "Panel unit root tests of firm size and its growth," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(6), pages 343-345.
    13. Dunne, Paul & Hughes, Alan, 1994. "Age, Size, Growth and Survival: UK Companies in the 1980s," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(2), pages 115-140, June.
    14. Alex Coad, 2010. "Exploring the processes of firm growth: evidence from a vector auto-regression," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 19(6), pages 1677-1703, December.
    15. Paul Geroski & Mariana Mazzucato, 2002. "Learning and the sources of corporate growth," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 11(4), pages 623-644, August.
    16. Robert E. Lucas Jr., 1978. "On the Size Distribution of Business Firms," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 9(2), pages 508-523, Autumn.
    17. 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.
    18. Falck, Oliver & Gold, Robert & Heblich, Stephan, . "Entrepreneurship education," Chapters in Economics,, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
    19. S.A. Lippman & R.P. Rumelt, 1982. "Uncertain Imitability: An Analysis of Interfirm Differences in Efficiency under Competition," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 13(2), pages 418-438, Autumn.
    20. Wilcox, Jw, 1971. "Simple Theory Of Financial Ratios As Predictors Of Failure," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(2), pages 389-345.
    21. Almus, Matthias & Nerlinger, Eric A, 2000. "Testing "Gibrat's Law" for Young Firms--Empirical Results for West Germany," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, August.
    22. Audretsch, David B. & Santarelli, Enrico & Vivarelli, Marco, 1999. "Start-up size and industrial dynamics: some evidence from Italian manufacturing," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 17(7), pages 965-983, October.
    23. Taffler, Richard J., 1984. "Empirical models for the monitoring of UK corporations," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 199-227, June.
    24. Erik Stam & Kashifa Suddle & Jolanda Hessels & André van Stel, 2009. "High-Growth Entrepreneurs, Public Policies, and Economic Growth," International Studies in Entrepreneurship, in: Rui Baptista & Joao Leitao (ed.), Public Policies for Fostering Entrepreneurship, chapter 0, pages 91-110, Springer.
    25. John Paul Broussard & David Michayluk & Walter P. Neely, 2005. "The Role of Growth in Long Term Investment Returns," Published Paper Series 2005-3, Finance Discipline Group, UTS Business School, University of Technology, Sydney.
    26. Davidsson, Per & Steffens, Paul & Fitzsimmons, Jason, 2009. "Growing profitable or growing from profits: Putting the horse in front of the cart?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 388-406, July.
    27. Evans, David S, 1987. "Tests of Alternative Theories of Firm Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 95(4), pages 657-674, August.
    28. Zoltán J. Ács & Pamela Mueller, 2015. "Employment effects of business dynamics: Mice, Gazelles and Elephants," Chapters, in: Global Entrepreneurship, Institutions and Incentives, chapter 16, pages 304-319, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    29. Blum, M, 1974. "Failing Company Discriminant-Analysis," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(1), pages 1-25.
    30. Edward I. Altman, 1968. "Financial Ratios, Discriminant Analysis And The Prediction Of Corporate Bankruptcy," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 23(4), pages 589-609, September.
    31. David B. Audretsch & Oliver Falck & Stephan Heblich & Adam Lederer (ed.), 2011. "Handbook of Research on Innovation and Entrepreneurship," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 13275.
    32. Jovanovic, Boyan, 1982. "Selection and the Evolution of Industry," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(3), pages 649-670, May.
    33. Richard E. Caves, 1998. "Industrial Organization and New Findings on the Turnover and Mobility of Firms," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(4), pages 1947-1982, December.
    34. Rudd, John M. & Greenley, Gordon E. & Beatson, Amanda T. & Lings, Ian N., 2008. "Strategic planning and performance: Extending the debate," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 61(2), pages 99-108, February.
    35. Hall, Bronwyn H, 1987. "The Relationship between Firm Size and Firm Growth in the U.S. Manufacturing Sector," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(4), pages 583-606, June.
    36. Timothy Dunne & Mark J. Roberts & Larry Samuelson, 1989. "The Growth and Failure of U. S. Manufacturing Plants," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 104(4), pages 671-698.
    37. Frank, Kimberly, 2002. "The effect of growth on the value relevance of accounting data," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 55(1), pages 69-78, January.
    38. David B. Audretsch, 1995. "Innovation and Industry Evolution," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262011468, December.
    39. Le, Son Anh & Walters, Bruce & Kroll, Mark, 2006. "The moderating effects of external monitors on the relationship between R&D spending and firm performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 59(2), pages 278-287, February.
    40. Geroski, P. A., 1995. "What do we know about entry?," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 421-440, December.
    41. Garrett, Robert P. & Covin, Jeffrey G. & Slevin, Dennis P., 2009. "Market responsiveness, top management risk taking, and the role of strategic learning as determinants of market pioneering," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 62(8), pages 782-788, August.
    42. Robert E. Lucas & Jr., 1967. "Adjustment Costs and the Theory of Supply," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 75, pages 321-321.
    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. Tarek Ibrahim Eldomiaty & Mohamed Hashem Rashwan & Mohamed Bahaa El Din & Waleed Tayel, 2016. "Firm, industry and economic determinants of working capital at risk," International Journal of Financial Engineering (IJFE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 3(04), pages 1-29, December.

    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. Tarek Ibrahim Eldomiaty & Mohamed Hashem Rashwan & Mohamed Bahaa El Din & Waleed Tayel, 2016. "Firm, industry and economic determinants of working capital at risk," International Journal of Financial Engineering (IJFE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 3(04), pages 1-29, December.
    2. Marco Vivarelli, 2013. "Is entrepreneurship necessarily good? Microeconomic evidence from developed and developing countries," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 22(6), pages 1453-1495, December.
    3. Canarella, Giorgio & Miller, Stephen M., 2018. "The determinants of growth in the U.S. information and communication technology (ICT) industry: A firm-level analysis," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 259-271.
    4. Lee, Chang-Yang, 2010. "A theory of firm growth: Learning capability, knowledge threshold, and patterns of growth," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 278-289, March.
    5. D.B. Audretsch & L. Klomp & E. Santarelli & A.R. Thurik, 2004. "Gibrat's Law: Are the Services Different?," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 24(3), pages 301-324, May.
    6. Blandina Oliveira & Adelino Fortunato, 2006. "Testing Gibrat's Law: Empirical Evidence from a Panel of Portuguese Manufacturing Firms," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(1), pages 65-81.
    7. Francesco Quatraro & Marco Vivarelli, 2015. "Drivers of Entrepreneurship and Post-entry Performance of Newborn Firms in Developing Countries," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 30(2), pages 277-305.
    8. Geurts, Karen & Van Biesebroeck, Johannes, 2016. "Firm creation and post-entry dynamics of de novo entrants," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 59-104.
    9. Daria Ciriaci & Pietro Moncada-Paternò-Castello & Peter Voigt, 2016. "Innovation and job creation: a sustainable relation?," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 6(2), pages 189-213, August.
    10. Enrico Santarelli & Marco Vivarelli, 2007. "Entrepreneurship and the process of firms’ entry, survival and growth," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 16(3), pages 455-488, June.
    11. Marco Vivarelli, 2012. "Entrepreneurship and Post-Entry Performance: the Microeconomic Evidence," DISCE - Quaderni del Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali dises1286, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Dipartimenti e Istituti di Scienze Economiche (DISCE).
    12. Vivarelli, Marco, 2012. "Drivers of entrepreneurship and post-entry performance : microeconomic evidence from advanced and developing countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6245, The World Bank.
    13. Vivarelli, Marco, 2012. "Entrepreneurship in Advanced and Developing Countries: A Microeconomic Perspective," IZA Discussion Papers 6513, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Francesco Quatraro & Marco Vivarelli, 2013. "Entry and Post-Entry Dynamics in Developing Countries," GREDEG Working Papers 2013-20, Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France.
    15. Quatraro, Francesco & Vivarelli, Marco, 2013. "Entrepreneurship In A Developing Country Context," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis LEI & BRICK - Laboratory of Economics of Innovation "Franco Momigliano", Bureau of Research in Innovation, Complexity and Knowledge, Collegio 201314, University of Turin.
    16. Alex Coad, 2007. "Firm Growth: a Survey," Post-Print halshs-00155762, HAL.
    17. David B. Audretsch & Max Keilbach, 2006. "Entrepreneurship, Growth and Restructuring," Papers on Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy 2006-13, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy Group.
    18. Roberta Piergiovanni, 2010. "Gibrat's Law in the “Third Italy”: Firm Growth in the Veneto Region," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(1), pages 28-58, March.
    19. Gémar, Germán & Moniche, Laura & Morales, Antonio J., 2016. "Survival analysis of the Spanish hotel industry," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 428-438.
    20. Mita Bhattacharya, 2014. "Business Growth, Size and Age: Evidence from the Business Longitudinal Survey (BLS) Data in Australia," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(3-4), pages 129-138, December.

    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:ids:ijecbr:v:6:y:2013:i:1:p:69-86. 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: Sarah Parker (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.inderscience.com/browse/index.php?journalID=310 .

    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.