Firm’s Asset Structure Change: Evidence From Industrial, Commercial Machinery and Computer Equipment in the U.S. Market

Abstract

Asset structure is an important and explicit indicator of asset investment and financial performance of a firm. As previous studies on asset structure did not reveal the actual tendency of specific manufacturing industry, this research examines the asset structure of the chosen manufacturing industry. Using panel data of the sample companies and generalized moment method (GMM) for the empirical testing, the results of the empirical analysis indicate that the average of the asset structure (represented by the ratio of current asset to total asset) almost holds on firmly to a constant value of 0.6, through the period of 2006 to 2013. No evidence reveals the collective characteristic of volatility during this period. In addition, the observed data present a slight-downward curve in the level of average current asset ratio during this period. Asset structure, together with first difference of return on asset (ROA) and return on equity (ROE), is the significant determinant of ROA. These findings may have a profound influence on directing internal investment and some sample companies may be taken as an example by corporate financial policy maker from both developed and developing countries.