Assessing working capital management efficiency of Indian manufacturing exporters

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the relationship between working capital management (WCM) efficiency and exogenous variables of the Indian manufacturing sector along with its sub-industries that are involved in export activities.

Design/methodology/approach

Panel regression (fixed effects) was used on a sample of 563 Indian manufacturing firms involved in export activities, covering a time period from 2008 to 2018.

Findings

Industry-wise results showed a significant relation of leverage, net fixed asset ratio, profitability, asset turnover ratio, total asset growth rate and productivity with cash conversion cycle (CCC).

Research limitations/implications

Firstly, having taken a sample from a developing economy, the results of our study may be generalizable only among developing contexts. Secondly, the time period taken in this study (2008–2018) has witnessed several economic fluctuations such as recession and demonetization which might differ for the firms or countries in normal conditions.

Practical implications

An improved working capital model could advance the firms' performance by reducing the CCC of the firm, thereby creating efficiency in WCM. In addition, the results of this study could be helpful for many stakeholders such as working capital managers, debt holders, investors, financial consultants and others for monitoring the firms.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the existing literature in the relation between WCM efficiency and exogenous variables of the Indian manufacturing firms engaged in the export activities. Moreover, this study is one of the few research studies to investigate this relationship among Indian export firms in different industries, thus filling the gap in similar work done in other countries.

Citation

Seth, H., Chadha, S., Ruparel, N., Arora, P.K. and Sharma, S.K. (2020), "Assessing working capital management efficiency of Indian manufacturing exporters", Managerial Finance, Vol. 46 No. 8, pp. 1061-1079. https://doi.org/10.1108/MF-02-2019-0076