MODERATING EFFECT OF THE COSTS STRUCTURE IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE ASYMMETRIC BEHAVIOR OF COSTS AND PROFITABILITY
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4270/ruc.2022120Keywords:
Cost Structure, Asymmetric Cost Behavior, ProfitabilityAbstract
This research aimed to verify the moderating role of the cost structure in the relationship between the asymmetric behavior of costs and the profitability of companies. We used panel data regressions and two cost structure measures to analyze the results' robustness rating effect of the cost structure on the relationship between cost asymmetry and contemporary profitability for companies in the industrial goods, as well as for the asymmetry of costs and future profitability of the industrial goods and cyclical consumption industry. These results add knowledge to the previous findings by showing that companies that presented a behavior of high-cost asymmetry had higher average profitability in the presence of a high proportion of fixed costs. It indicates that a higher proportion of fixed costs in the cost structure reverses the negative effect of cost asymmetry on profitability due to the moderating effect. We also observed the highest level of profitability in a scenario of lower cost asymmetry and a lower proportion of fixed costs. The empirical evidence indicates that the minimization of the asymmetric behavior of costs is relevant, especially for companies with a low proportion of fixed costs, since there is a negative relationship between the asymmetric behavior of costs and profitability. These results are important for managers to analyze and compare their company's position in relation to competitors regarding the efficiency level in adjusting costs to variations in demand.
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