Abstract

We explore the impact of investor sentiment on the cash conversion cycle (CCC) and examine how macroeconomic, financial, and real activity uncertainties mediate this relationship. Our study focuses on U.S. publicly traded firms and reveals that investor sentiment is negatively associated with CCC. Furthermore, our findings suggest that the negative correlation is primarily attributable to negative (pessimistic) sentiment, indicating that an unfavorable outlook of investors has a significant impact on CCC. We argue that the cost stickiness theory helps explain the divergent reactions of firms with positive and negative CCCs to sentiment. Additionally, we show that economic uncertainty partially mediates the relationship between sentiment and CCC. Specifically, when there are considerable economic uncertainties, managers tend to take a more proactive approach toward their CCC. Overall, our study provides valuable insights into the factors that influence firms’ CCC and highlights the need for firms to take into account investor sentiment and appropriately address uncertainties in their management of CCC.

摘要

我们探讨了投资者情绪对现金转换周期（CCC）的影响，并研究了宏观经济、金融和实体活动的不确定性如何调节这种关系。我们的研究重点关注美国上市公司，结果表明投资者情绪与 CCC 呈负相关。此外，我们的研究结果表明，负相关性主要归因于负面（悲观）情绪，表明投资者的不利前景对 CCC 产生重大影响。我们认为，成本粘性理论有助于解释具有积极和消极 CCC 的公司对情绪的不同反应。此外，我们发现经济不确定性在一定程度上调节了情绪与 CCC 之间的关系。具体来说，当经济存在较大不确定性时，管理者倾向于对 CCC 采取更积极主动的方法。总体而言，我们的研究为影响公司 CCC 的因素提供了宝贵的见解，并强调公司需要考虑投资者情绪并适当解决 CCC 管理中的不确定性。