In this study, U.S. manufacturing firms' profitability measures including profit margins and returns on equity are examined over the 1971-2005 period. We find strong support for the “insulation hypothesis” as our results show that the profitability ratios and the valuation multiples of U.S....

In this study, U.S. manufacturing firms' short-term financial management measures including net working capital, inventory turnover and receivables turnover are examined over the 1971-2005 period. The impacts of firm size, profitability, tangibility, market-to-book ratio, leverage, as well as...