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The purpose of this paper is to use the DuPont expansion to examine those factors underlying differences in (rates of) return on different crop portfolios over space (ten regions) and time (1960‐2004). The paper also estimates the impact of government payments on farmland values through its impact on farm profitability.

Businesses use the DuPont model to analyze the profitability of a business. This model includes three components: net profit margin, asset turnover, and financial leverage (or assets to equity). It is based on the relationships among these three components and is expressed as a product of ratios. For the purposes of the current study, accrued capital gains from (total) returns are excluded to focus on cash returns “cash flow”. Returns from current income are a “cash flow” available in the short run to pay financial obligations. Furthermore, returns from capital gains are not liquid; they are gains in wealth fully captured as capital gains/losses only in the longer term. Following the DuPont approach, the effect of government payments on farm asset values is equal to the sum of the effect of government payments on profit margins plus the effect of government payments on the asset turnover ratio.

The analysis focuses on agricultural profitability in the ten Economic Research Service (ERS) regions. By comparing the components of the DuPont expansion, profitability differences over time are analyzed. The results indicate that one cause of low profitability in the Corn Belt and Mountain regions is a perpetually low profit margin while the evidence for other regions supports lower asset efficiency. Results show that government payments impact the profit margin and affect value of farm assets in particular farmland values but not asset turnover ratio.

The use of DuPont expansion factor in agriculture is original and really helps us to understand the factors driving profitability in agriculture. Another innovation (originality) in this paper is the theoretical model that connects the DuPont expansion factor, government payments and its impact on farmland values.

The aim of this study is to use a financial approach based on the Du Pont expansion to investigate the impact of demographics, specialization, tenure, vertical integration, farm type, and regional location on the three levers of performance (ROE) – namely, net profit margins, asset turnover ratio, and asset‐to‐equity ratio.

This research uses a system of equations in conjunction with 1996‐2009 farm‐level data from the US Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) to evaluate the factors driving farm‐level profitability, namely, net profit margins, asset turnover ratio, and asset‐to‐equity ratio. The methodology employed in this study corrects heterogeneity and uses repeated cross‐section estimation procedure to estimate the empirical models.

The study finds that key drivers of net profit margins are operator education, farm size and typology, specialization, and level of government payments. Key factors affecting the asset turnover ratio component of the Du Pont model include asset turnover ratio is driven by operator age, contracting, specialization, and receiving government payments. Finally, key factors affecting asset‐to‐equity ratio component of the Du Pont model are farm size, farm typology, contracting, and specialization drive asset‐to‐equity ratio.

Existing research does not examine the factors affecting returns to equity in faring at the farm‐level. Specifically, a micro‐level analysis of American farm's future structure and financial performance that accounts for the spatial and inter‐temporal dimensions of profitability has never been conducted.

The purpose of this paper is to provide evidence of the effect of the differences related to reporting inventory, property plant and equipment, intangible assets, and development costs between International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP) companies.

Both univariate tests (t‐tests) and multivariate tests (ANOVA, probit and logit analyses) are used to compare the ratios between IFRS and US GAAP companies.

Results consistently show that IFRS‐country firms have a significantly higher current ratio, a significantly lower asset turnover ratio, and a significantly lower debt‐to‐asset ratio.

This paper only focuses on inventory, property plant and equipment, intangible assets, and development costs. Other financial variables are not considered.

The results are useful for individuals who are interested in reporting and investing in countries using different financial reporting systems.

This paper is a timely examination of the recent emphasis of mandating IFRS.

We examine the empirical relationship between direct equity agency costs measures and corporate governance control mechanisms to control equity agency costs. We measure the three direct agency cost proxies commonly used in the literature: the operating expense; asset turnover; and selling, general, and administrative (SGA) ratios. Internal corporate governance control mechanisms examined are inside ownership (IO), outside ownership concentration (OC), the size of the board of directors (BODs), and the composition of the BODs (proportion of nonexecutive (NE) directors and separation of chief executive officer (CEO) and board chair). The external corporate governance control mechanism examined is the size of bank debt (short-term debt). Univariate and multivariate tests reveal that the only statistically significant relationship between corporate governance control mechanisms and direct equity agency cost measures is the negative relationship between the proportion of IO and direct agency costs. The asset utilization ratio (asset turnover) ratio is the best proxy for direct equity agency costs and can be useful for event studies of announcement period excess returns.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors affecting profitability in Malaysian-listed companies. It has been argued that profitability is the main pillar for any company to survive in the long run. Although profitability is the primary goal of all business ventures, scant attention has been paid to the factors that affect profitability in developing countries. This study investigates the factors affecting profitability in Malaysian-listed companies.

This research is based on five independent variables that were empirically examined for their relationship with profitability. These variables are: firm size (as measured by total sales), working capital (WC), company efficiency (assets turnover ratio), liquidity (current ratio) and leverage (debt equity ratio and leverage ratio). Data of 120 companies listed on Bursa Malaysia covering the period from 2012 to 2014 were extracted from companies’ annual reports. Pooled ordinary least squares regression and fixed-effects were used to analyze the data.

The findings show a strong positive relationship between firm size (total sales), WC, company efficiency (assets turnover ratio) and profitability. The results also show a negative relationship between both debt equity ratio and leverage ratio and profitability. Liquidity (current ratio) has no significant relationship with profitability.

Due to the time limitation, the data includes only 120 companies listed in bursa Malaysia and covers the period from 2012 to 2014.

These results benefit internal users (such as mangers, shareholders and employees). They can realize the determinants of enhancing the profitability of their company after the depreciation of the Malaysian currency and therefore concentrate more on the factors that enhance their companies’ profitability. On the other side, other external users (such as investors, creditors, new established companies, tax authority) also may get advantages of these results. It is clear that those users concern about the profitability of companies and the determinants of their profitability after the currency’s depreciation.

This study differs than previous studies in many ways: first, it focuses on non-financial listed companies in Malaysia. Previous studies have concentrated on companies in the financial sector, such as banking and financial institutions or on industrial organizations. Second, this study analyzes the data in companies’ annual reports for a three-year period from 2012 to 2014. During this period, the economy in Malaysia was fluctuating due to currency depreciation. Third, the study used both return on equity and earnings per share as indicators of profitability. Fourth, the results of the study provide empirical evidence that large size firms with efficiently managed assets can improve operating income and ultimately enhance profitability. Last but not least, this study applies the resource-based theory and the trade-off theory.

This study aims to identify a taxonomy of financial ratios derived from financial statements prepared using International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The work first empirically establishes and then statistically validates the taxonomy of financial attributes captured in financial ratios. In 2005, the European Commission required that publicly traded companies in the European Union use IFRS as the basis for financial reporting. In the same year, Australia adopted IFRS as a basis for financial reporting. Since then, 120 countries and reporting jurisdictions have adopted IFRS as the basis for financial reporting. Given that IFRS predominate in the financial reporting world, it seems essential to establish and validate IFRS-based ratio attributes. Only then can reliance upon and comparability of these ratios be warranted (Altman and Eisenbeis, 1978). Using principle component analysis, the authors empirically identify nine stable attributes (factors) for ratios drawn from IFRS-based financial statements from 84 counties. The findings provides an empirical basis to formulate testable hypotheses regarding the predictive and descriptive utility of financial ratios draw from IFRS-based financial statements.

The paper begins with a broad category of IFRS-based financial ratios, 50, found in practice and research, including income statement, balance sheet, cash flow, profitability and liquidity measures. Then, a sample of companies from the manufacturing sector is segmented using IFRS as a basis of financial statement reporting. Next, principal component analysis, a method of factor analysis, is applied to empirically identify factors and financial attributes captured in financial ratios used in research inquiry and financial analysis.

The authors find that the financial attributes captured by IFRS-based ratios go well beyond the traditional measures of profitability, liquidity and solvency. The authors identify nine factors that are interpretable and stable over the period, 2011-2015: asset relationship, asset turnover, capital structure, expense insight, fixed asset usage, inventory turnover, liquidity, profitability margin and performance return. Interestingly, the authors did not find a separate cash flow factor. Most importantly, the results corroborate that IFRS-based ratios are consistent and comparable, despite innate country differences that have been shown to influence the application, interpretation and use of IFRS.

The efforts are limited to the manufacturing sector. The financial attributes may be different in service, distribution and retail sectors. Also, limiting the effort are the ratios selected in this study. A broader range of ratios may widen the identification of unique stable factors over time.

The findings provide a basis for research and analysis efforts regarding the validity, comparability and stability of IFRS-based financial ratios. Most importantly, the results corroborate that IFRS-based ratios are consistent and comparable, despite innate country differences that have been shown to influence the application, interpretation and use of IFRS. The findings should be of interest to international and national financial reporting standard setters, investors and analysts.

An empirically evidenced classification system for IFRS-based financial ratios has yet to be determined based on a financial statements across a wide breadth of countries and reporting jurisdictions. Identification of stable interpretable factors, financial attributes, has been limited. The first is that inquiry has been limited to domestic-based, such as US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, financial ratios. The second is inquiry has been limited to IFRS-based financial ratios within a specific country.

Determining the relevant information using financial measures is of great interest for various stakeholders to analyze the performance of the firm. This paper aims at identifying these financial measures (ratios) which critically affect the firm performance. The authors specifically focus on discovering the most prominent ratios using a two-step process. First, the authors use an exploratory factor analysis to identify the underlying dimensions of these ratios, followed by predictive modeling techniques to identify the potential relationship between measures and performance.

The study uses data of 25 financial variables for a sample of 1923 Indian manufacturing firms which exist continuously between 2011 and 2018. For prediction models, four popular decision tree algorithms [Chi-squared automatic interaction detector (CHAID), classification and regression trees (C&RT), C5.0 and quick, unbiased, efficient statistical tree (QUEST)] were investigated, and the information fusion-based sensitivity analyses were performed to identify the relative importance of these input measures.

Results show that C5.0 and CHAID algorithms produced the best predictive results. The fusion sensitivity results find that net profit margin and total assets turnover rate are the most critical factors determining the firm performance in an Indian manufacturing context. These findings may enable managers in their decision-making process and also have vital implications for investors in assessing the performance of the firm.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the current paper is the first to address the application of decision tree algorithms to predict the performance of manufacturing firms in an emerging economy such as India, with the latest data. This practical perspective helps the organizations in managing the critical parameters for the firm’s growth.

The present study investigates whether companies that exhibit high performance characteristics in the pre-financial crisis period can maintain their high performance in the financial crisis period of 2007–2009 and, in particular, the post-financial crisis period of 2010–2011.

The current study of 1,473 companies in 25 countries and 66 industries (MSCI index) (1) extends the empirical research of prior studies through the year 2011; (2) identifies the operating characteristics (performance drivers and performance measures) and associated risk factors which were most critical with regard to sustaining, exiting, and entering HPC companies during the five 10-year periods since 1998–2007, and (3) summarizes conclusions about HPC results from the 13 ten-year periods (1989–1998 to 2002–2011) in this stream of research.

(1) Companies that sustain high performance over periods of financial stress clearly excel in asset turnover performance driver and on the performance measures of growth in revenues, profit margin, return on equity and return on assets. Sustaining HPC had less debt than other companies and consistent cash flow yields. Operating turnover ratios became less important in recent years as an indicator of high performance. (2) Although exiting companies maintained profitability, financial risk and liquidity, the key factor in their dropping out of HPC status is their failure to grow revenues. (3) Entering companies did not exhibit the superior performance in all categories.

The results provide strategic direction for management of companies that aspire to HPC status and to maintain HPC status once gained, particularly in times of global financial stress.

This paper examines the financial ratios that may have a significant effect on the efficiency in Malaysian listed companies. Nine financial ratios measure seven variables which are firm visibility, tangibility, working capital, leverage, liquidity, productivity and profitability.

Data are collected from 108 public listed companies in Malaysia. The data extracted from companies' annual reports for three years 2012–2014. STATA software analysis is used to examine these relationships.

The results show each of tangibility and liquidity have negative relationships with efficiency ratio. In against of that, profitability, working capital and productively positively link to efficiency. Leverage which is measured by two ratios – Debt ratio and Debt equity ratio – shows mix results. Debt ratio shows a positive but not significant relationship with efficiency ratio and Debt equity ratio shows a negative significant relationship with efficiency ratio.

The results benefit companies, investors, economists and governments regulators in Malaysia-to understand the efficiency determinants, so help to make the right decision to enhance the efficiency level in companies which leads to enhance the amount of investments which in turn, enhance the country's economy in general.

This study differs than previous studies number of aspects: first the study covers a three years' period between 2012 and 2014, this period presents the movement of Malaysian current into depreciation with more than 45 percent of its value. Second, in the Malaysia context, this study examines new variables such as firm visibility, tangibility, and productivity. Third, the results of this study will help managers, shareholders, investors, regulators and other parties to make right decisions that will enhance the level of firm efficiency which enhances the investments and the economy of Malaysia.

In spite of the fact that today’s supply chains are global, it is surprising the current research lacks studies primarily focusing on Latin American (LATAM) firms. To enhance our understanding in this domain, this study examines the impact of technology investments on inventory turnover, asset turnover and employee productivity measures within the LATAM context.

We use an unbalanced panel of over 2,101 firm-year observations from the Worldscope database between 2010 and 2022 and limit our analysis to firms located in the Latin American region. We use panel data and regression analysis to test our hypotheses.

The findings reveal a positive impact of technology investments on inventory turnover, asset turnover and employee productivity.

There is a dearth of research in the discipline primarily focusing on the firms from the LATAM region. The extant literature has largely focused on the Western firms and we know from prior cross-cultural research that there are significant differences in terms of how firms and governments operate differently in emerging and non-Western regions such as LATAM or parts of Asia and Africa. By specifically focusing on a sample of LATAM firms, the study makes important contributions to the extant literature with respect to the role of technology investments in improving inventory turnover, and also on asset turnover and employee productivity. The study further provides implications for practice.