Working capital management
and SMEs profitability:
Portuguese evidence
Maria Amélia Pais
Coimbra Sul Group of Schools, Coimbra, Portugal, and
Paulo Miguel Gama
Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical evidence on the effects of working capital
management on the profitability of small and medium-sized Portuguese firms.
Design/methodology/approach – Panel regressions (fixed effects) and instrumental variables were
used to model a sample of 6,063 Portuguese small and medium-sized firms (SMEs), covering the time
period 2002-2009. Also, industry-demeaned values and industry-specific dummy variables allow for
industry-specific effects robustness tests.
Findings – Results indicate that a reduction in the inventories held and in the number of days that
firms take to settle their commercial liabilities and to collect payments from its customers are
associated to higher corporate profitability. Similar results are obtained when industry-specific effects
are controlled, supporting the robustness of the previous analysis. The relevance of quadratic
dependences of the profitability on some variables was also identified and suggests a decreasing trend
of return on assets with increasing values of the working capital management characteristic variables.
Practical implications – The practice of more aggressive working capital management policies
increase firms’ profitability. Moreover, the importance of a good practice in working capital management is
stressed by the evidence suggesting the existence of an optimal level for the working capital components.
Originality/value – The consensus that SMEs play a crucial role in the development of the national
economy, the lack of published industry wide studies of this type for the case of Portugal, justifies the
importance of the present study.
Keywords Profitability, Small to medium-sized enterprises, Working capital management
Paper type Research paper