IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/metrik/v24y2013i1p77-87.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Working capital management and firm profitability

Author

Listed:
  • Thorsten Knauer

  • Arnt Wöhrmann

Abstract

Managing a firm’s current assets and liabilities (working capital management) is highly relevant to the success of that firm. While the short-term liquidity effects of working capital management are straightforward to derive, it is an empirical question how it affects firm profitability. This short survey paper consolidates the empirical literature on the association between working capital management and firm profitability. This state of the art analysis provides evidence of positive effects of accounts receivable management and inventory management on profitability. However, results for the effects of accounts payable management on profitability are driven by reverse causality. Finally, this paper highlights critical aspects of prior research and points to avenues for future research. Copyright Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Thorsten Knauer & Arnt Wöhrmann, 2013. "Working capital management and firm profitability," Metrika: International Journal for Theoretical and Applied Statistics, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 77-87, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:metrik:v:24:y:2013:i:1:p:77-87
    DOI: 10.1007/s00187-013-0173-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s00187-013-0173-3
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s00187-013-0173-3?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. Opler, Tim & Pinkowitz, Lee & Stulz, Rene & Williamson, Rohan, 1999. "The determinants and implications of corporate cash holdings," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 3-46, April.
    2. 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.
    3. Michael S. Long & Ileen B. Malitz & S. Abraham Ravid, 1993. "Trade Credit, Quality Guarantees, and Product," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 22(4), Winter.
    4. Katrien Kestens & Philippe Van Cauwenberge & Heidi Vander Bauwhede, 2012. "Trade credit and company performance during the 2008 financial crisis," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 52(4), pages 1125-1151, December.
    5. Jyrki Niskanen & Mervi Niskanen, 2006. "The Determinants of Corporate Trade Credit Policies in a Bank‐dominated Financial Environment: the Case of Finnish Small Firms," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 12(1), pages 81-102, January.
    6. 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.
    7. Wang, Yung-Jang, 2002. "Liquidity management, operating performance, and corporate value: evidence from Japan and Taiwan," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 12(2), pages 159-169, April.
    8. Kim, Chang-Soo & Mauer, David C. & Sherman, Ann E., 1998. "The Determinants of Corporate Liquidity: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 33(3), pages 335-359, September.
    9. Hawawini, Gabriel & Viallet, Claude & Vora, Ashok, 1986. "Industry influence on corporate working capital decisions," MPRA Paper 44894, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Benjamin S. Wilner, 2000. "The Exploitation of Relationships in Financial Distress: The Case of Trade Credit," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(1), pages 153-178, February.
    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. Afrifa, Godfred & Tingbani, Ishmael, 2017. "Working Capital Management, Cash Flow and SMEs’ Performance," MPRA Paper 82894, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Oct 2017.
    2. Chauhan, Gaurav Singh, 2019. "Are working capital decisions truly short-term in nature?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 238-253.
    3. Grzegorz Zimon & Dominik Zimon, 2020. "Quality Management Systems and Working Capital SMEs in GPO—A Case of Poland," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-13, October.
    4. Dary, Stanley K. & James, Harvey S., 2019. "Does investment in trade credit matter for profitability? Evidence from publicly listed agro-food firms," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 237-250.
    5. Cristina Martínez-Sola & Pedro García-Teruel & Pedro Martínez-Solano, 2014. "Trade credit and SME profitability," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 561-577, March.
    6. Matthew D. Hill & G. Wayne Kelly & Michael J. Highfield, 2010. "Net Operating Working Capital Behavior: A First Look," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 39(2), pages 783-805, June.
    7. Chang, Chong-Chuo, 2018. "Cash conversion cycle and corporate performance: Global evidence," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 568-581.
    8. Woo Sung Kim, 2016. "Determinants of Corporate Trade Credit: An Empirical Study on Korean Firms," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 6(2), pages 414-419.
    9. Duong Phuong Thao Pham & Thi Cam Ha Huynh, 2020. "The Impact of Trade Credit Investment on Manufacturing Firms' Profitability: Evidence from Vietnam," Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, Mendel University Press, vol. 68(4), pages 775-796.
    10. Afrifa, Godfred Adjapong & Gyapong, Ernest & Monem, Reza M., 2018. "Product differentiation, market dynamics and the value relevance of trade payables: Evidence from UK listed firms," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 235-253.
    11. Enqvist, Julius & Graham, Michael & Nikkinen, Jussi, 2014. "The impact of working capital management on firm profitability in different business cycles: Evidence from Finland," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 36-49.
    12. H. Kent Baker & Debidutta Pattnaik & Satish Kumar, 2022. "Trade credit and firm profitability: Empirical evidence from India," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(4), pages 3934-3953, October.
    13. Markus Mättö & Mervi Niskanen, 2021. "Role of the legal and financial environments in determining the efficiency of working capital management in European SMEs," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(4), pages 5197-5216, October.
    14. Sonia Baños-Caballero & Pedro García-Teruel & Pedro Martínez-Solano, 2012. "How does working capital management affect the profitability of Spanish SMEs?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 517-529, September.
    15. Wetzel, Philipp & Hofmann, Erik, 2019. "Supply chain finance, financial constraints and corporate performance: An explorative network analysis and future research agenda," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 216(C), pages 364-383.
    16. Grzegorz Zimon & Hossein Tarighi & Mahdi Salehi & Adam Sadowski, 2022. "Assessment of Financial Security of SMEs Operating in the Renewable Energy Industry during COVID-19 Pandemic," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-18, December.
    17. Sonia Baños‐Caballero & Pedro J. García‐Teruel & Pedro Martínez‐Solano, 2010. "Working capital management in SMEs," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 50(3), pages 511-527, September.
    18. Thapa, Priya Darshini Pun, 2013. "How does profitability get affected by working capital management in food and beverages industry?," MPRA Paper 50926, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Malik, Zafar Ullah & Iqbal, Athar, 2012. "Affect of Working Capital Management on Firms Profitability in Sugar Industry of Pakistan," MPRA Paper 41436, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Abdul Rashid & Maryam Ashfaq, 2017. "Financial Constraints And Corporate Cash Holdings: An Empirical Analysis Using Firm Level Data," Annals of Financial Economics (AFE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 12(02), pages 1-26, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • M10 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - General
    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill

    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:spr:metrik:v:24:y:2013:i:1:p:77-87. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.