Change and invariance in EU aggregate financial statement data

Abstract

Aggregate accounting data from the BACH data base for European manufacturing companies is used to explore the nature of the differences in financial structure between eleven countries in the European Union over the period 1986-1999. The analysis relies on scaling methods, which visualise the most important features of the data and their dynamic evolution. It is found that there is a geographical divide in the EU, which appears to be related to company profitability and staff cost structure. The differences between countries are influenced by the economic cycle, being more accentuated in periods of low economic activity