O impacto das políticas de capital de giro na rentabilidade de empresas brasileiras de capital aberto

Abstract

This study presents the effects of working capital policies on the profitability and profit margins of publicly traded Brazilian companies from 2010 to 2022. The aim of this research is to examine how working capital policies impact different measures of profitability and profit margins across various economic sectors.The sectoral analysis of how investment and financing policies in working capital affect profitability and profit margins justifies this study. Weinraub and Visscher (1998), when analyzing companies from 1984 to 1993, stated that different economic sectors observe different approaches to working capital policies. There is evidence in this study that the management of investment and financing policies in working capital affects companies in the primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors in distinct ways. Profitability was measured using ROA, while profit margins were measured using the Net Margin. The Operating and Financial Cycles were used as measures of working capital management, while the variables CATAR and CLTAR (detailed in the methodology) served as proxies for Investment and Financing Policies in working capital, respectively. While the investment and financing policies in working capital did not show statistical significance concerning the sample that included all companies, the sectoral samples (primary, secondary, and tertiary) indicated that at least one working capital policy was significant in managing profitability and profit margins. In the consolidated sample across all sectors, it was indicated that the management of the Operating and Financial Cycles could impact profitability and profit margins. In the sectoral samples, the Operating and Financial Cycles had distinct effects on ROA and the Net Margin, reinforcing the importance of this study in analyzing each working capital variable on a sectoral basis.