Relying on firm-level panel data from an emerging economy, this study explores the impact of fixed capital expenditure on working capital management practices. When facing insufficient internally generated cash flows and external funds for accommodating capital investments, companies are found to finance capital expenditure by primarily depleting cash reserves and increasing trade payables. Corroborating the postulates of the financing constraints theory, working capital investments are found to be inversely related to the degree of financing constraints, and positively sensitive to operating cash flow fluctuations and availability of external finance. For financially constrained companies, capital expenditures are found to more likely exercise a negative impact on working capital investments. Contributing to the discussion on the nature of business cycles, we document that the negative cash flow shocks are likely to be transmitted to firms’ counterparties through the trade credit channel rather than through the reduction of investment demand. The empirical findings also suggest that financial managers fail to properly account for capital expenditures in short-term liquidity planning, which, under conditions of limited access to imperfect capital markets, may induce the recurrence of costly working capital adjustments.

The corporate governance reform promulgated in 2015 in Japan has contributed to a substantial increase of board independence and a reduction of average board tenure. Our empirical analysis covering 3405 public companies demonstrates that reinvigorated corporate oversight and an increasing post-reform shift towards prioritization of shareholder value have led to a persistent increase of corporate profitability, asset productivity, dividend payouts, acquisitions’ value, and valuation multiples. We also document a significant increase of sensitivity of executives’ and directors’ compensations to the dynamics of firms’ bottom lines. The positive changes are the most pronounced within companies where independent directors constitute a majority on the board. The most notable drawbacks of the reform are a significant reduction in net employment creation and in employee turnover within the largest companies. These might be a possible reason for the documented improvement in corporate performance. The number of part-time employees has also seen a significant increase. While being prima facie focused on reinvigorating the private sector, the corporate governance reform may implicitly undermine the established social contract based on job security. Therefore, our study is important from the perspective of sustainable development of the corporate sector as it demonstrates that while concentrating on improving corporate governance, it is also necessary to consider the business’ social responsibility.

Relying on cross-country panel data, the paper investigates the possible repercussions of salary gap for employee productivity and corporate financial performance. Our empirical findings corroborate the presence of a negative tail effect of wage gap on productivity and employee morale. While worsening employee turnover and productivity, and increasing the chances of workplace controversies, high salary gap is found to be associated with a more efficient cost structure and higher profitability. Our evidence suggests that extreme salary gap may be curbed by targeted internal policies favoring internal promotion and career development, unionization, employee and managerial training. The composition of the board’s remuneration committee appears to play but a minor role in shaping the scale of salary gap. The results of the study are in line with equity aversion theory and suggest that extreme wage inequality may impede firms’ growth with spillover effects observable at the macro-level. Targeted policies may be necessary to counter the negative repercussions of high compensation disparities as within-firm mechanisms appear insufficient to mitigate them.

By studying M&A deals completed by European energy and power companies between 2002 and 2021, the paper inquires into the impact of corporate consolidation on the competitive positioning of individual energy firms and the concentration of market power on the national energy markets in the EU countries. Our evidence suggests that the European energy market may be moving towards a greater concentration of market power as market leaders are shown to primarily acquire their peers from national markets, while outsiders are more likely to diversify into non-energy sectors, which may further endanger their competitive positioning in the future. We also find that M&As allow energy and power companies to substantially increase their market share within national markets. The said impact is stronger in case of cross-border deals, including those within and outside of the EU. At the same time, only cross-border deals are associated with sufficiently strong revenue growth to advance firms’ relative positioning within national markets. The relative positioning of firms in the EU market remains unaffected by M&A activities, which may be indicative of extreme rigidity and segmentation of the EU market. While at the country level, M&As are found to contribute to a reduction in market concentration measured by a number of indicators, this negative link is documented to be entirely driven by non-core acquisitions involving targets from non-energy industries.

The study presents a comparative analysis of the financial standing of renewable- and conventional-energy-generating companies domiciled in the European Union, and explores factors contributing to their operating performance and financing needs. The comparative analysis of electricity-generating companies demonstrates that renewable energy providers have steadily improved their financial standing and appear well-prepared to compete with conventional energy generation from fossil fuels. Relying on univariate statistical tests, we demonstrate that, at present, renewable energy companies generate a significantly higher return on assets and make larger investment outlays than their conventional peers. Univariate cross-sectional tests confirm that they also enjoy access to cheaper equity and more plentiful debt financing thanks to a shift in the priorities of financial institutions and capital markets. We posit that, besides the cumbersome permit system, the biggest challenge to the operating performance of renewable energy firms could reside in the restrictive revenue caps, price regulation, and renewable firms’ exposure to spot market price fluctuations. The econometric analysis based on multivariate panel regression models demonstrates that the profitability and financing needs of renewable energy companies are more sensitive to electricity prices than those of conventional energy firms. We conclude that higher energy prices and greater reliance on market pricing mechanisms could significantly boost the performance of the renewable energy sector.

The present study documents a positive market reaction to mergers and acquisition (M&A) deals involving renewable energy companies. Acquirers record positive post-deal cumulative risk-adjusted returns upon taking over a renewable energy target, especially if the former also operates in the renewable energy sector. Such deals often involve purchases of majority equity stakes financed with acquirers’ stock rather than cash. Acquirers of renewable energy firms tend to be more profitable and cash-rich than their industry peers, yet they are less likely to be serial acquirers and channel cash reserves towards M&As. We evidence that the quality of corporate governance in the energy sector may play a substantial role in shaping the choice of targets; a director’s outside affiliations increase the likelihood of takeovers of non-energy firms, while the presence of outsiders on board appears to incentivize diversification into renewable energy. While acquisitions of renewable energy firms feature lower-than-average acquisition premia and generate positive short-term stock returns, they are found to exercise an overall negative short- and medium-term impact on the combined entities’ operating performance. Overall, capital markets appear to attach a sizeable premium to risky deals involving renewable energy firms, possibly in expectation of wealth accrual in the long term.