Determinants of Accounting and Market-based Performance Measures – Case of Croatian Non-financial Listed Companies

¹ University of Split, University Department of Forensic Sciences, Ruđera Boskovica 33, 21000 Split, Croatia
² University of Split, University Department of Professional Studies, Kopilica 5, 21000 Split, Croatia

^* Corresponding author: tpavic@oss.unist.hr

Abstract

Research background: Profitability and the factors that determine it have always intrigued the scholars. Despite the large number of studies dealing with this topic at the international level, this paper sheds a new light on the issue since it deals with the listed companies in an emerging economy confronting two performance measures.

Purpose of the article: The aim of this paper is to provide evidence on the performance of Croatian non-financial firms listed on the Zagreb Stock Exchange (ZSE).

Methods: The analysis encompassed firms that operated in the 2015 – 2019 period. For this purpose, the authors confronted two performance measures, i.e. accounting-based performance measure represented with return on assets (ROA) whereas Tobin’s Q stands for the market-based measure of performance or firm value. Independent variables that served as potential determinants of listed companies’ performance include inventories management, productivity, liquidity measured with both current and quick ratio, and size calculated on the basis of total assets, and sales.

Findings & Value added: After employing static panel analysis, the results reveal statistically significant influence of size variable based on assets in both models though it takes negative sign in the model where performance is measured with Tobin’s Q, whereas its positive impact on performance is recorded in ROA model. Furthermore, size based on total sales also positively affects performance when measured with ROA.