Impact of Working Capital Management on Firm Performance in Different Business Cycles: Evidence from Vietnam

This study was conducted on financial data of 38 economic groups listed on Vietnam's stock market for the period 2009 - 2019 and it aims to provide an empirical evidence on the impact of working capital management policy on performance in all phases of the economic cycle of Vietnamese economic groups. The study uses FGLS estimation method with 2 dependent variables ROA, GOP, independent variables including INV, AR, AP, CCC, dummy variable representing different phases of the economic cycle, variables Control includes CAT, CR, LEV, SZ, GR. Research shows that the greater the level of investment by companies in liquid assets corresponding to a certain level of activity (shown by average days of inventory (INV), average days of collection. (AR), cash flow cycle (CCC)) the lower the rate of return on assets. The study also provides additional evidence of the negative effects of economic crisis on the performance of economic groups. The study also shows that the number of short-term asset cycles has a positive impact on operational efficiency, and the level of debt use has a negative impact on operational efficiency. This result implies that the managers of economic groups can increase the efficiency of businesses through a reasonable working capital policy.