Does working capital determine firm performance? An empirical research of the emerging economy

Abstract

The primary objective of this study is to examine the impact of working capital management efficiency on the financial health/well-being of a company measured in terms of firm value in the context of a rapidly emerging economy. This study applies a multivariate ordinary least square regression analysis on industry adjusted performance variable of 1532 Indian firms listed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) for a period of 18 years (from 1999-2017). Not all of the 1532 firms selected for this study were listed during the whole period of study. Only 610 firms were listed at the beginning and gradually more and more companies started to get listed until eventually 922 more companies got listed to the initial tally of 610 listed firms making the total number of listed companies to be 1532 by the end of the study period. A total of 19862 firm year observations correspond to listed firms and 9246 firm year observations for unlisted firms making it a total of 29108 firm year observations. The findings of this study indicate that an efficient working capital management (proxied by Cash conversion cycle and components thereof) leads to better firm performance when adjusted for industry differences. It also shows that the relationship follows a curvilinear trajectory instead of a linear one as a change in sign in the coefficient of working capital management proxy (Cash Conversion Cycle) occurs and its square term and both are manifesting itself as significant in the listed companies. This is a co-relational study investigating the association between working capital management efficiency and firm performance. The findings of this study is based in an economy that is unique in its own right. Indian corporate landscape is replete with business groups and they dominate the market in terms of asset holding and market capitalization coupled with the existence of institutional gaps and weak legal enforcement mechanisms. All of which makes the Indian corporate landscape totally different from its more developed counterparts thus rendering the results not generalizable. The relationship between these variables should be verified in other economies taking their unique characteristics into account. This study to the best of the author’s knowledge is the first one to investigate the relationship between working capital management and firm performance on such a comprehensive dataset having 62 different industries in an emerging economy. The findings of the study are intended to be of use to financial managers, investors, financial management consultants, and other stakeholders.