The Sticky Cost on Greek Food, Beverages and Tobacco Limited Companies

The cost behavior is one of the most important aspect of the analysis of businesses profitability. The traditional model of study of its behavior requires strict proportion with the level of activity, something that is not shared by modern studies. To understand better the behavior of asymmetric cost, our work examines the behavior of the Greek retail food, beverages and tobacco companies. We studied 438 limited companies for a period of 12 years, and noticed that a 1% increase in sales, leads to an increase of 1.011% of the cost, while the corresponding reduction lowers the cost of sales by 0,905%. The industry addressed by our study, has a direct relation to all households. So, it is important the industry to be studied further, in order to give more opportunities and benefits for consumers and state. Last,, future studies can use our study in an attempt to understand better the behavior of asymmetric costs.