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Profitability Determinants
Research Guide

What is Profitability Determinants?

Profitability Determinants identify firm-specific, industry, and macroeconomic factors driving persistence in ROA and ROE metrics.

Researchers use panel data econometrics and decomposition methods to analyze drivers across sectors and economic cycles. Studies focus on capital structure, ownership, working capital, and leverage impacts (Chan Phooi M’ng et al., 2017; Boţoc and Anton, 2017). Over 10 key papers from 2011-2022 examine these relationships, with top-cited works exceeding 97 citations.

Curated Papers

Key Challenges

Why It Matters

Profitability determinants inform corporate valuation models by predicting ROA/ROE persistence amid cycles, aiding strategic planning in emerging markets. Chan Phooi M’ng et al. (2017) link capital structure to profitability in Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand firms, influencing debt policies. Boţoc and Anton (2017) show working capital management drives profitability in high-growth Eastern European firms, impacting job creation and innovation strategies. Fuadah et al. (2022) demonstrate ownership and ESG disclosure effects on performance, guiding governance reforms.

Key Research Challenges

Heterogeneity Across Markets

Profitability drivers vary by region, complicating generalizable models; emerging vs. developed market differences require context-specific panel regressions. Chan Phooi M’ng et al. (2017) highlight capital structure variations in Southeast Asia. Alghusin (2015) notes leverage effects differ in Jordanian industrials.

Endogeneity in Panel Data

Firm size, growth, and profitability exhibit bidirectional causality, biasing OLS estimates; fixed effects and GMM address this but demand robust instrumentation. Paminto et al. (2016) use path analysis for capital structure and growth on oil palm firms. Boţoc and Anton (2017) apply dynamic panels for working capital in high-growth firms.

Cyclical Persistence Measurement

ROA/ROE persistence fluctuates with macro shocks, challenging decomposition methods across cycles. Wong Pik Har and Abdul Ghafar (2015) compare pre- and recession periods in Malaysian plantations. Faghani Makarani and Bineshian (2013) link working capital components to profitability over 2004-2012.

Essential Papers

The determinants of capital structure: Evidence from public listed companies in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand

Jacinta Chan Phooi M’ng, Mahfuzur Rahman, Selvam Sannacy · 2017 · Cogent Economics & Finance · 97 citations

We investigate the determinants of capital structure of public listed companies on Bursa Malaysia, Singapore Stock Exchange and Thailand Stock Exchange from 2004 to 2013. We also investigate how fi...

The Ownership Structure, and the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Disclosure, Firm Value and Firm Performance: The Audit Committee as Moderating Variable

Luk Luk Fuadah, Mukhtaruddin Mukhtaruddin, Isni Andriana et al. · 2022 · Economies · 80 citations

This study investigated the effect of ownership structure on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure, firm value, firm performance, and audit committees as moderating variables in th...

The Effect of Capital Structure, Firm Growth and Dividend Policy on Profitability and Firm Value of the Oil Palm Plantation Companies in Indonesia

Ardi Paminto, Djoko Setyadi, Jhonny Sinaga · 2016 · VNU Journal of Science: Natural Sciences and Technology (Vietnam National University) · 74 citations

This research aims to test and analyze the effect of capital structure, firm growth, and dividend policy on the firm value, either direct or indirect. This research uses secondary data from the qua...

IS PROFITABILITY DRIVEN BY WORKING CAPITAL MANAGEMENT? EVIDENCE FOR HIGH-GROWTH FIRMS FROM EMERGING EUROPE

Claudiu Boţoc, Sorin Gabriel Anton · 2017 · Journal of Business Economics and Management · 67 citations

Despite the importance of high-growth firms (HGFs) for job creation, innovation, and economic development in transition economies, current knowledge on the role of financial decisions in explaining...

EFFECT OF COMPANY AGE, AUDIT QUALITY, LEVERAGE AND PROFITABILITY ON EARNINGS MANAGEMENT

Nawang Kalbuana, Adelina Suryati, Chandra Puspa Arum Pertiwi · 2022 · International Journal of Economics Business and Accounting Research (IJEBAR) · 34 citations

This research aims to test the impact of Company Age, Audit Quality, Leverage and Profitability on Earnings management on Indonesian Stock Exchange-listed Retail and Wholesale Trading Companies for...

The Impact of Accounting Earnings on Stock Returns: The Case of Malaysia’s Plantation Industry

Wong Pik Har, Muhammad Afif. Abdul Ghafar · 2015 · International Journal of Business and Management · 31 citations

This study seeks to examine, (1) the effect of ROA, ROE and ROCE on stock return for plantation companies listed on the Main Board of Bursa Malaysia, in two distinct economic periods, prior to (200...

The Effect of Net Income and Other Comprehensive Income on Future’s Comprehensive Income With Attribution of Comprehensive Income as Moderating Variable

Marhaendra Kusuma, Diana Zuhroh, Prihat Assih et al. · 2021 · International Journal of Financial Research · 23 citations

This study aims to examine the effect of net income and other comprehensive income on the total of future’s comprehensive income with attribution of earning as a moderating variable. It also tests ...

Reading Guide

Foundational Papers

Start with Faghani Makarani and Bineshian (2013) for working capital basics (Iran case, 8 cites), then Ahmed and Wadud (2011) on ownership-Tobin's Q panels.

Recent Advances

Prioritize Chan Phooi M’ng et al. (2017, 97 cites) for capital structure, Fuadah et al. (2022, 80 cites) for ESG/ownership, Boţoc and Anton (2017, 67 cites) for high-growth working capital.

Core Methods

Panel fixed effects/GMM (Boţoc and Anton, 2017); path analysis (Paminto et al., 2016); ROA/ROE decompositions across cycles (Wong Pik Har and Abdul Ghafar, 2015).

How PapersFlow Helps You Research Profitability Determinants

Discover & Search

Research Agent uses searchPapers and exaSearch to query 'ROA determinants panel data emerging markets,' retrieving Chan Phooi M’ng et al. (2017) as top result with 97 citations; citationGraph maps connections to Alghusin (2015) and Boţoc and Anton (2017); findSimilarPapers expands to 50+ related works on leverage and working capital.

Analyze & Verify

Analysis Agent applies readPaperContent to extract regression coefficients from Boţoc and Anton (2017), then runPythonAnalysis with pandas to replicate working capital-profitability panels; verifyResponse via CoVe cross-checks claims against Fuadah et al. (2022) data; GRADE assigns A-grade to causal evidence from GMM models.

Synthesize & Write

Synthesis Agent detects gaps in ESG-profitability links post-Fuadah et al. (2022), flags contradictions in leverage effects; Writing Agent uses latexEditText and latexSyncCitations to draft ROA decomposition tables, latexCompile for sector reports, exportMermaid for causal flow diagrams.

Use Cases

"Replicate working capital regression from Boţoc and Anton (2017) on new dataset"

Research Agent → searchPapers → Analysis Agent → readPaperContent + runPythonAnalysis (pandas replication with ROA as dependent variable) → matplotlib plots of coefficients → researcher gets verified panel regression output with p-values.

"Write LaTeX review of capital structure effects on profitability in Asia"

Research Agent → citationGraph (Chan Phooi M’ng et al., 2017 hub) → Synthesis Agent → gap detection → Writing Agent → latexEditText (intro/methods) → latexSyncCitations (10 papers) → latexCompile → researcher gets compiled PDF with tables.

"Find code for profitability decomposition models from papers"

Research Agent → paperExtractUrls (Paminto et al., 2016) → paperFindGithubRepo → githubRepoInspect (Stata/GMM scripts) → Analysis Agent → runPythonAnalysis (port to NumPy) → researcher gets executable ROE persistence simulator.

Automated Workflows

Deep Research workflow scans 50+ papers via searchPapers → citationGraph, producing structured ROA driver report with GRADE scores. DeepScan applies 7-step CoVe to verify leverage-profitability claims from Alghusin (2015), checkpointing regressions. Theorizer generates hypotheses on ESG persistence from Fuadah et al. (2022) + Boţoc and Anton (2017).

Try Doxa for Profitability Determinants Research

Frequently Asked Questions

What defines Profitability Determinants?

Firm-specific (size, leverage), industry, and macro factors driving ROA/ROE persistence via panel econometrics.

What methods dominate this subtopic?

Panel data regressions, GMM for endogeneity, path analysis; e.g., Boţoc and Anton (2017) use dynamic panels for working capital.

What are key papers?

Chan Phooi M’ng et al. (2017, 97 cites) on capital structure; Fuadah et al. (2022, 80 cites) on ownership/ESG; Boţoc and Anton (2017, 67 cites) on working capital.