Influence of Characteristics of Working Capital on Performance of Russian Companies

This paper considers the issues connected to working capital management. The objective of the research is to provide an empirical evidence of the relation between working capital management and firm performance of Russian manufacturing and trading companies. For this purpose, economic literature and the results of empirical studies on this subject were studied. The analysis was based on the financial statements of companies for the period from 2011 to 2015. The study finds a statistically significant negative relationship between return on assets and number of days’ inventory, receivables outstanding and cash conversion cycle, but a positive relationship between return on assets and number of days’ payables outstanding. These results suggest that managers can create value for their shareholders by reducing the number of days of cash conversion cycle, keeping required level of solvency. The results of this study could be useful to managers of each company, especially during the global financial crises. The paper includes 8 tables, 30 references, and 46 sheets. Keywords: Working Capital Management, Average Collection Period, Average Inventory Period, Average Payment Period, Cash Conversion Cycle, Return on Assets.