Impact of working capital management on business profitability: Evidence from the Polish dairy industry

Abstract

The main purpose of this paper was to examine the causative link between Working Capital Management (WCM) and Return On Assets (ROA) in milk processing companies. Days Sales of Inventory (DSI), Days Sales Outstanding (DSO), Days Payable Outstanding (DPO) and the Cash Conversion Cycle (CCC) were used as WCM metrics. The study was based on micro-data for Polish dairy companies from 2008-2017, retrieved from the Emerging Markets Information Service (EMIS) database. Based on panel regression models, it was demonstrated that extending the DSI and CCC had an adverse effect on ROA, whereas extending the DSO and DPO had a beneficial impact on ROA in dairy companies. Such relationships were mostly characteristic of SMEs which form the largest group of businesses in Poland.

Keywords

• milk processing
• panel models
• profitability
• working capital management