Financial constraints and economics behavior: the specificities of small manufacturing firms from 1985 to 1995

The aim of this paper is to give an overwiev of the behavior of manufacturing firms, in particular the small ones and to go deeper into the conclusion of a previous paper ( Equity and rate of return, ew- fin- 9608001). After some quotes about capital structure and private firms, a comparison of own funds is made between german, french, spanish, italian and austrian manufacturing firms. We can find that french manufacturing firms, for each size studied, are less indebted than their foreign counterparts. Otherwise, french small firms are more profitable and more efficient than the larger ones. We then point out two economic behaviors. The first one depends on growth capacity of the firms and also on their accumulation outlay; the second depends on the intensity of the links with the financial markets, the facilities to obtain lendable funds, all aspects which oblige firms to make high financial profitabilities that can reduce accumulation decisions.

Corporate behaviour and competitive forces

The purpose of this article is to propose a typology of the economic behaviour of French industrial companies in 1993 based on a sample of more than 7,000 companies participating in the Balance Sheet Data Centre of the Banque de France. The objective is therefore to explain how productivity and competitiveness shape a company's rate of return. Three performance levels have been put forward: the "physical" level, the "market" level and the "financial" level, corresponding respectively to labour and capital productivity, the profit margin and the return on assets. The relationship between various types of behaviour and the competitive forces ( M. Porter, 1986 ) affecting these companies is then examined on the basis of a sub-set of companies that participated in the Sesame survey and are included in the qualitative data base maintained by the Companies Division at the Banque de France.behaviour, competitive forces, strategy

EQUITY AND RATE OF RETURN: ARE SMALL MANUFACTURING FIRMS HANDICAPPED BY THEIR OWN SUCCESS?

From a french pannel of manufacturing firm, this article aims to show that the terms of the debate on the capitalization of small manufacturing firms ought to be clarified. These firms are often said to be undercapitalized, because in relative terms their capital spending is often similar, or even greater, than that of their larger competitors. This means that their earnings are depleted by the higher depreciation charges for maintaining their fixed assets. Undercapitalization is also due to the fact that firms in this category have poor access to capital markets.equity, rate of retrurn, accumulation, sme's

Growth patterns and economic performance of french manufacturing firms

Since early 1994, there have been signs of an upturn in economic activity . The strength and scope of the recovery depend to a large extent on the ability of companies to exploit their competitiveness, which is dependent on the decisions they take today, particularly where both tangible and intangible investments are concerned. The aim of this article is to identify specific types of economic behaviour and to relate them to companies' investment, and particularly intangible investment, decisions. It is first of all necessary to define competitiveness and to suggest a measurement indicator suited to aggregated accounting data. The link between competitiveness and profitability will be specified and the diversity of the companies will then be highlighted.behaviour, competitive forces, strategy, competitiveness

DO MARKET LISTING AND SIZE ENTAIL BEHAVIOURAL DIFFERENCES?

It is possible to study companies according to their methods of gaining access to finance, and in particular the stock market. Two approaches are possible. The first looks at the organisation of such access through the relationships built up by the company with suppliers of capital, enabling the financial territory of the company to be defined. The second approach, which does not exclude the first, is to compare companies according the degree to which they enjoy access to financial markets, which can be defined in terms of whether a company is listed on the stock market or not. Both approaches have been tested using data for recent years. The purpose of this paper is to examine firstly the differences in access to financial markets between large and small companies, and secondly the effects and constraints generated by the fact of being listed (comparison of listed and unlisted companies).sme's, listed, unlisted, IPO, corporate, finance

French manufacturing firms and the capital gap since1985 - a credit rationing approach.

s: An earlier study (Cieply, Paranque, 1996) revealed the existence of a size effect in the determination of the financial structures of French firms over the period 1990-1993. However, this effect only appeared clearly above the 2000 employee threshold and was not sufficient to identify the dominant factors explaining the financial structures observed. We therefore turned to a model that included the determinants of the demand for and supply of financial debt. The main findings of this research are: the importance of credit rationing by demand over the period as a whole and across the population of firms; the absence of any effect of substitution of debt to suppliers for debt to financial institutions, perhaps due to a lack of information about the customers of firms subject to credit rationing by supply; the high frequency of firms with financial links subject to credit rationing by supply, which doubtless corresponds to specific methods for managing cash balances and the production cycle; the fact that listed firms are more often in equilibrium than other firms. The hypothesis of a small business capital gap is borne out only for the smallest businesses, especially as regards long-term debt. However, this finding is not entirely clear-cut. Lastly, the prevalence of each configuration seems to depend more on the movement of interest rates than on their spread.credit rationning, liste, unlisted, size, sme's, capital gap

PERFORMANCES ÉCONOMIQUES ET INVESTISSEMENT DES ENTREPRISE INDUSTRIELLES FRANCAISES

Cette article se propose d'identifier des comportements économiques spécifiques et de les mettre en rapport avec les décisions d'investissement, en particulier immatériel, opérés par les entreprises. Il est tout d'abord nécessaire de définir la compétitivité et de proposer un indicateur de mesure adapté aux données comptables agrégées. Ensuite le lien entre compétitivité et rentabilité est explicité avant d' insister sur la diversité des entreprisescomptététivité, competitiveness

Des conventions aux performances : pour un outil d’élaboration d’un accord - Toward an agreement

Dans un article d’octobre 2001, Jensen souligne les limites opérationnelles de la théorie de la maximisation de la valeur et de la théorie des parties prenantes (Stakeholder theory). La complémentarité entre ces théories vient de l’affirmation que le bien être collectif n’est atteint que si « toutes les valeurs » portées par chaque partie prenante sont prises en compte et que cette maximisation se fasse sur le long terme. Il y a donc la reconnaissance de la firme comme une organisation historique et complexe. Toutefois, il apparaît une difficulté opérationnelle dans la mesure où les objectifs des différentes parties prenantes non aucune raison d’être convergentes à priori. Cette critique vaut aussi bien du point de vue la maximisation de la valeur ( comment gérer plusieurs objectifs à la fois) que de celui de la théorie des parties prenantes ( comment définir un objectif commun). Le présent article tente d’apporter une contribution à cette exigence de coordination en proposant une démarche fondée par l’économie des conventions. In an article from October 2001, Jensen underlines the operational limits of interpretation/current use which is made of the maximization of the value and the stakeholder theory. The complementarity between both theories comes from the assertion by Jensen of the need for understanding that the social welfare is then reached only if, on the one hand, "all the values" carried by each recipient are taken into account, and on the other hand, that this maximization is done on the long term. There is thus the recognition of the firm as a historical and complex organization. However, it presents an operational difficulty. We can agree with the maximization of value as a way for the social welfare. However, we still have the problem of the non convergence a priori of the objectives of the differents stakeholders, including shareholders and managers. This criticism could be made for both theories. The present paper propose a contribution on the way to build the necessary « agreement » between stakeholder, based on the « économie des conventions » (salais).agreement, shareholder, stakholder, convention

Financement, investissement et performances des entreprises industrielles françaises

Les interrogations nombreuses au sujet des PME en restent généralement à un constat d' insuffisance de fonds propre, confondant ainsi problème de financement et nature de celui-ci. En outre elles trouvent leur origine dans une comparaison abusive avec les grandes entreprises, ignorant des traits distinctifs déterminants liés à l' effort d' accumulation et à la nature des contraintes selon la taille des entreprises. La compréhension des différences selon la taille des entreprises nécessite de partir de la politique d' investissement et de revenir sur la formation de la rentabilité afin de savoir si les problèmes de financement et d' accès au crédit pour les PMI provient de performances insuffisantes par rapport aux entreprises de plus grandes taille. Ce travail a été effectué au travers de différentes publications. Il en résulte que l' efficacité ou les rentabilités des PMI sont supérieurs à celles des grandes entreprise même si l' hétérogénéité des situations est plus grande pour les premières. Il confirme aussi que si ces entreprises sont plus endettées, toutefois l'interprétation de ce résultat diverge de celles faites couramment. Compte tenu du mode d' insertion propre aux PMI dans le système productif, il apparaît une spécificité qui ne consiste nullement à les définir comme des " petites grandes entreprises ". La logique les organisant est d' un autre ordre que celle des grandes entreprises. On pourrait la qualifier de logique d' accumulation sous contrainte de débouchés, la contrainte de rentabilité ne jouant " que comme " force de rappel aux conditions du marché. Cette dernière est maîtrisée par une structure à moindre intensité capitalistique fondée sur une efficacité du capital plus importante. Les grandes entreprises obéiraient à une logique de capitalisation sous contrainte de rentabilité, en particulier financière, la contrainte de débouchés étant gérée au travers des alliances; des réorganisations des actifs, de position dominante etc.. I - S PHÈRE FINANCIÈRE ET SPHÈRE RÉELLE 3 II - DES LOGIQUES ÉCONOMIQUE ET FINANCIÈRE DIFFÉRENTES ENTRE PME ET GRANDES ENTREPRISES 6 III - LES MODES DE CROISSANCE DES ENTREPRISES INDUSTRIELLES 27 CONCLUSION 38 BIBLIOGRAPHIE 41 ANNEXES 50equity, rate of retrurn, accumulation, sme's, investment, corporate finance

SECTEURS DE FINANCEMENT ET GESTION DE LA RENTABILITE Flexibilité financière et performances - Sectors of financing and profitability

Le présent article se situe dans le prolongement d’un précédent travail exploratoire sur les régimes de financement et se réfère à l’économie des conventions. Cette problématique ne se prête que difficilement à l’observation dans la mesure où nombre des modalités y concourrant sont de l’ordre du non-dit, de l’implicite. Il existe toutefois une démarche indirecte partant de ce qu’on peut considérer comme le résultat de cette coordination. Ainsi, les données disponibles sur la structure du capital des entreprises permettent d’observer des modalités de financement qui peuvent être assimilées à des régimes de financement. Les analyses présentées ont permis de développer une réflexion visant à la promotion d’outils et de procédures d’évaluation destinées à favoriser l’accès aux crédits des PME. This paper is in the continuation of a previous exploratory work on the sector of financing and refers to the « économie des conventions ». This approach lends itself only with difficulty to observation insofar as a number of its modalities are implicit. There is however an indirect method based on what one can regard as the result of a coordination. Thus, the data available on the structure of the capital of the companies makes it possible to observe differents ways of financing which can be an indicators of the sectors of financing. The analysis presented allows us to develop this approach aiming at the promotion of tools and procedures for evaluation intended to support the access to credit of SME’s.finance