A Study on the Backfire Effect of Liquidity on Enterprise Profits-Based on Life Cycle Perspective
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63944/x1v.JFEMRKeywords:
profit; liquidity risk; backfire effect; enterprise life cycleAbstract
The expansion strategy is an important tool for enterprises to achieve growth and transformation, but it may lead to a lack of liquidity and thus a rapid decline. Does liquidity have a backfire effect on profits and thus lead to enterprise decline? Based on the life cycle theory, the empirical study of 72 ST-listed companies in China from 2010 to 2020 shows that liquidity is significantly and positively correlated with profits during the expansion period and negatively correlated with profits during the recession period, and the effect becomes larger as the characteristics of enterprise life cycle change gradually. The study also shows that profit and liquidity risk do not necessarily follow the principle of equal increase or decrease in different periods, which provides a new path for enterprise to strengthen liquidity risk management.
References
[1] Adizes, I. (2004). Managing corporate lifecycles (2nd ed.). Santa Barbara, CA: Adizes Institute Publications.
[2] Bikas, E., Glinskytė, E. (2021). Financial factors determining the investment behavior of Lithuanian business companies. Economies, 9(2), 45. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/economies9020045
[3] Blessing, H., Sakouvogui, G. (2023). Impact of liquidity and solvency ratios on financial performance: A comprehensive analysis. Indonesia Auditing Research Journal, 12(3), 102–115.
[4] Dabboussi, M. (2024). Does debt structure explain the relationship between agency cost of free cash flow and dividend payment? Evidence from Saudi Arabia. Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 17(6), 223. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm17060223
[5] Fu, Q., Deng, C. (2013). Executive control, compensation and earnings management. Collected Essays on Finance and Economics, (4), 66–72.
[6] Grossman, S. J., Hart, O. D. (1988). One share-one vote and the market for corporate control. Journal of Financial Economics, 20(1–2), 175–202. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-405X(88)90044-X
[7] Hao, Y., Liu, X. (2010). Research on enterprise investment behavior from the perspective of corporate governance. Financial Science, (9), 63–70.
[8] Li, X., Shao, X., Shao, H. (2025). Public debt bubble and deflation: Evidence from the big government impact in China. Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, (advance online), 1–25. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4871381
[9] Lu, Z. (2013). How does macroeconomic policy affect the economic effect of enterprise cash holdings: Evidence based on product market and capital market. Management World, (6).
[10] Modigliani, F., Miller, M. H. (1958). The cost of capital, corporation finance, and the theory of investment. The American Economic Review, 48(3), 261– 297.
[11] Myers, S. C., Majluf, N. S. (1984). Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have. Journal of Financial Economics, 13(2), 187–221. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-405X(84)90023-0
[12] Scott, W. R. (2012). Financial accounting theory (6th ed.). Toronto: Pearson Canada. 107
[13] Sequeira, J. M. (2021). Monetary policy surprises, stock returns, and financial and liquidity constraints in an exchange rate monetary policy system. The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, 81, 226–236. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.qref.2021.06.005
[14] Shiller, R. J. (1984). Stock prices and social dynamics. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 1984(2), 457–510. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2534436
[15] Waitherero, K. F., Muchina, S., Macharia, S. (2021). The role of liquidity risk in augmenting firm value: Lessons from savings and credit cooperatives in Kenya. International Journal of Financial, Accounting, and Management, 2(4), 295–304. DOI: https://doi.org/10.35912/ijfam.v2i4.340
[16] Wang, Y., Wang, X., Zhang, Z., et al. (2023). Role of fiscal and monetary policies for economic recovery in China. Economic Analysis and Policy, 77, 51–63. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eap.2022.10.011
[17] Xiao, X., Wang, Y., Liao, H. J., Han, G., Liu, Y. J. (2023). The impact of digital inclusive finance on agricultural green total factor productivity: A study based on China’s provinces. Sustainability, 15(2). DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su15021192
[18] Xu, J., Haris, M., Liu, F. (2023). Intellectual capital efficiency and firms’ financial performance based on business life cycle. Journal of Intellectual Capital, 24(3), 653–682. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/JIC-12-2020-0383
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Journal of Frontier in Economic and Management Research

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.