G30 - Corporate Finance and Governance: GeneralReturn

This paper examines the impact of working capital management on firm performance in nine developing economies in Asia. Specifically, the study focuses on two critical aspects: the management of trade credit and inventory. The empirical findings reveal that effective management of these components significantly enhances the performance of financially dependent firms. In fact, during critical periods such as the 2008 financial crisis, these management strategies helped to boost performance considerably. However, no comparable association was observed in other firms within the sample. These results suggest that appropriate handling of trade credit and inventory can yield a significant performance advantage.

In a globalized world, companies are able to sell their products or services abroad or purchase them abroad. This generates advantages due to the expansion of the business area creating a broader market but comes along with currency risks. This paper examines which factors influence German SMEs’ willingness to conduct foreign business, respectively to do transactions in foreign currencies. An empirical study researches how the currency risk in North German SMEs is valued and assessed. The analysis further identifies the differences in the use of foreign currencies of rural and urban SMEs and examines the reasons for the use of foreign currencies and currency management which lead to the use of currency hedging. With a sample size of 73 SMEs the study aims for a better understanding of the foreign activities of German SMEs and investigates the approach to the currency risk management for a better understanding of their needs. In general, the paper shows that the larger a company is, the more likely is the use of a currency management. A comparison of rural and urban SMEs in Northern Germany reveals, that urban ones are larger and therefore more likely to use currency hedging. Based on the research, the paper provides recommendations for SMEs with foreign sales.

One of the important issues for companies is liquidity from domestic and foreign trade. The market is classically defined by the number of available markets. Globalization and free trade zones set up the foreign market, which becomes increasingly important - even for SMEs. This paper analyzed approx. 60,000 bank transactions with foreign reference of Northern German SMEs by using Chi-square test and correlation analysis. The analysis proofs that an increasing number of foreign transfers increases the number of foreign currency accounts per company. The results also show that despite the existence of currency hedging tools, a significant proportion of SMEs continues to expose themselves to currency risk. The willingness to manage currency risks increases with the increase in value per transaction. Transactions with a value of less than EUR 10,000 are often transferred abroad in EUR instead of in foreign currency.