On Working and Circulating Capital

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the terms “working” and “circulating” capital are two different terms for the same concept; or whether they should be considered two different terms for two different concepts. This purpose will be carried out in two steps. The first is devoted to an investigation of the use of the term “working” by the German economist Lowe (The Path of Economic Growth) and by some Austrian economists (Menger, Böhm-Bawerk, Hayek). The second is devoted to Keynes (A Treatise on Money). At the end of each step an assessment is made of the use of this term by these economists with an extension to the relationship between Lowe’s and Keynes’s treatment of their notion of working capital and two preceding streams of thought. These relationships run between Lowe and the Austrians, in the first case; and between Keynes and the classics (in Marx's sense), in the second. These assessments will eventually converge towards the conclusion that the terms “circulating” and “working” capital are not two different terms for the same notion; and that these two notions are different because they belong to two different theories and require two different methods. The paper argues that the two theories are the classical theory of reproduction and the modern theory of fluctuations as a special branch of the modern theory of production; while the two methods are the method of vertical integration and the method of horizontal integration. The identification of these theories and methods will be pursued more keenly than the differentiation of the two notions of “working” and “circulating” capital in that the aim of this paper is not to resort to the “bestiary” of our subject as if it were a “taxonomy”, let alone to the “taxonomy” as if it were a “machine” (see Shackle: The Years of High Theory, 1967, p.293).Circulating and working capital, reproduction and production, Lowe, Keynes, Austrians

Investment and financing constraints in China: does working capital management make a difference?

We use a panel of over 120,000 Chinese firms of different ownership types over the period 2000-2007 to analyze the linkages between investment in fixed and working capital and financing constraints. We find that those firms characterized by high working capital display high sensitivities of investment in working capital to cash flow (WKS) and low sensitivities of investment in fixed capital to cash flow (FKS). We then construct and analyze firm-level FKS and WKS measures and find that, despite severe external financing constraints, those firms with low FKS and high WKS exhibit the highest fixed investment rates. This suggests that good working capital management may help firms to alleviate the effects of financing constraints on fixed investment.Investment; Cash flow; Financing constraints; Working capital

Working on heterogeneous human capital*

At the beginning of the nineteen-eighties, the Dutch economy was in a poor state.Successive oil crises had hit the industrial sector particularly hard. This promptedgovernment to set up an authoritative committee, led by former Shell presidentWagner. The committee was asked to advise on the creation of a new industrialélan and revitalisation of the economy. One of the committee''s recommendationswas a better match between education and occupational practice, in order tobenefit sufficiently from the contribution of education and training to economicdevelopment.1 In the wake of these recommendations, the ministry of Educationdecided to commission the economics faculty of Maastricht University with a longtermresearch assignment, the primary aim of which was to make the labour marketmore transparent for education decisions.labour economics ;

Hamlet without the Prince: whatever happened to capital in 'Working Capital'?

This is one of a number of papers in the same issue of CITY on the theme "How should we write about London?" This paper is a critical discussion of Working Capital: Life and Labour in Contemporary London, by Nick Buck, Ian Gordon, Peter Hall, Mike Harloe and Mark Kleinman (with Belinda Brown, Karen O’Reilly, Gareth Potts, Laura Smethurst and Jo Sparkes). Routledge, London, 2002. It expresses great admiration for the book but criticises it for being somewhat trapped within orthodox approaches and it suggests both missing topics and missing interpretations, evident when the book is read from a marxist point of view

Understanding the macroeconomic effects of working capital in the United Kingdom

In this paper we first document the behaviour of working capital over the business cycle stressing the large negative effect of the recent credit contraction on UK firms working capital positions. In order to understand the effects of working capital on macroeconomic variables, we solve and calibrate an otherwise standard flexibleprice DSGE model that introduces an explicit role for the components of working capital as well as a banking sector which intermediates credit. We find that financial intermediation shocks, similar to those experienced post-2007, have persistent negative effects on economic activity ; these effects are reinforced by reductions in trade credit. Our model admits a crucial role for monetary policy to offset such shocks. Key words: Working capital ; business cycle model ; spreads ; financial crisis. JEL classification: E20 ; E51 ; E52

Capital Collaboration: An In-Depth Look at the Community Investment System in Massachusetts Working Cities

This publication presents the work of the Capital & Collaboration Initiative, a cross-sector effort designed to increase the scale, efficiency and impact of investments in Massachusetts cities of more than 35,000 people (excluding Boston), characterized by below-median family income and above-average poverty rates, which have been termed "Working Cities" by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.In 2013, the Boston Fed launched the Working Cities Challenge, a competition designed to incentivize cross-sector leadership and collaboration to benefit low- and moderate-income residents in these cities.In 2015, the Fed launched Capital & Collaboration as a companion process, examining the delivery of capital for downtown revitalization, small business, and scattered-site residential development. The Fed convened a working group of stakeholders from institutions that provide capital and services to communities in the Working Cities. It then invited Kresge Foundation Senior Fellow Robin Hacke and Katie Grace of the Initiative for Responsible Development to work with these parties to examine the community investment system, drawing on a capital-absorption framework Hacke and Grace had developed and have applied in cities across the country

Working Capital Requirement and the Unemployment Volatility Puzzle

Shimer (2005) argues that a search and matching model of the labor market in which wage is determined by Nash bargaining cannot generate the observed volatility in unemployment and vacancy in response to reasonable labor productivity shocks. This paper examines how incorporating monopolistically competitive firms with a working capital requirement (in which firms borrow funds to pay their wage bills) improves the ability of the search models to match the empirical fluctuations in unemployment and vacancy without resorting to an alternative wage setting mechanism. The monetary authority follows an interest rate rule in the model. A positive labor productivity shock lowers the real marginal cost of production and lowers inflation. In response to the fall in price level, the monetary authority reduces the nominal interest rate. A lower interest rate reduces the cost of financing and partially offsets the increase in labor cost from a higher productivity. A reduced labor cost implies the firms retain a greater portion of the gain from a productivity shock, which gives them a greater incentive to create vacancies. Simulations show that a working capital requirement does indeed improve the ability of the search models to generate fluctuations in key labor market variables to better match the U.S. data

Assessing Financial Equilibrium of the Romanian Companies Traded at Bucharest Stock Exchange

This paper presents a model of financial equilibrium analysis. The model is based on relation between net working capital, necessary of working capital and net treasury of the firm. Based on the Pearson correlation coefficient and rank Spearman correlation coefficient, we have determined the intensity of the connection between the stability level, which is an expression of long term equilibrium, and different financial indicators yearly adjusted. Its applicability on Romanian companies traded at Bucharest Stock Exchange is limited by the insufficient amount of information. The list of indicators related to stability should be completed with some more indicators, such as the added value, the expenses profitableness, the financial result and so on.net assets, net working capital, net working capital required, net treasury, financial rates, stability.

Determinants of working capital management

This paper analyzes the determinants of working capital management (WCM) for a sample of Spanish firms during the period 1997-2004. We find that firms have a target investment in working capital and that they take decisions in order to achieve this. The results appear to support the hypothesis that the working capital competes with investment in fixed assets for the funds of the firms when they have financial constraints. Finally, we also find that WCM depends on bargaining power and other financial factors such as the availability of internal finance, cost of financing and financial constraints.Research Agency of the Spanish Government ECO2008-06179/ECO

How do market imperfections affect working capital management?

This paper examines whether Working Capital Management (WCM) is sensitive to market imperfections such as asymmetric information, agency conflicts or financial distress. We find that firms have a target investment in working capital and that they take decisions in order to achieve this. In addition, the results appear to support the hypothesis that the working capital competes with investment in fixed assets for the funds of the firms when they have financial constraints. Finally, we also find that WCM depends on bargaining power and other financial factors such as the availability of internal finance, cost of financing and access to capital markets. Este artículo analiza si la gestión del capital circulante está afectada por las imperfecciones de mercado tales como la asimetría informativa, los conflictos de agencia o las dificultades financieras. Los resultados muestran que las empresas tienen un nivel de inversión en capital circulante objetivo y toman decisiones con el fin de alcanzarlo. Además, los resultados parecen apoyar la hipótesis de que el capital circulante compite con los activos fijos por los fondos de las empresas cuando éstas tienen restricciones financieras. Finalmente, la gestión del capital circulante depende del poder de negociación y otros factores financieros tales como la disponibilidad de financiación interna, el coste de financiación y el acceso a los mercados de capitales.ciclo de efectivo, gestión del capital circulante, imperfecciones de mercado, datos de panel net trade cycle, working capital management, market imperfections, panel data