Determinants of Financial Performance of Indian Corporate Sector in the Post-Liberalization Era: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

This paper attempts to provide an empirical validation of the widely held existing theories on the determinants of firm performance in the Indian context. The study uses financial statement and capital market data of 566 large Indian firms over a time frame of eight years divided into two sub-periods (viz., 1992-96, and 1996-2000) to study Indian firms' financial performance across various dimensions viz., shareholder value, accounting profitability and its components, growth and risk of the sample firms. It reveals that even on the same data, the determinants of market-based performance measures and accounting-based performance measures differ due to influence of 'Capital Market Conditions'. We found that size, marketing expenditure, and international diversification had a positive relation with a firm's market valuation. Apart from these firm attributes that reflect either operating parameters of firms or 'strategic choice' of firm managers, we also found that a firm's ownership composition, particularly the level of equity ownership by Domestic Financial Institutions and Dispersed Public Shareholders, and the leverage of the firm were important factors affecting its financial performance. The different implications of the findings for various stakeholders of a firm are also discussed.