A Comparison of the Financial Management Characteristics of UK vs. EU Manufacturing Firms

When two economies are integrated, the financial management characteristics of firms in the two economies tend to become similar. Germany and France are two original members of the EU since 1957 and they have fully integrated economies. The UK joined the EU in 1973. In a recent national referendum, British people voted to leave EU membership. It is often argued that, although the UK was a member of the EU, it was not a part of the European Monetary System and UK economy has never fully integrated with the EU economy. In this paper, we test this hypothesis by comparing the financial management characteristics of UK manufacturing firms with the financial management characteristics of EU manufacturing firms (as represented by a combined sample of German and French Manufacturing firms). Our MANOVA test statistics indicate that the financial management characteristics of UK and EU manufacturing firms are significantly different. Accounts receivable collection period is significantly shorter and inventory turnover is significantly higher in UK firms than in EU firms. However, EU firms have significantly higher total assets turnover compared with UK manufacturing firms. UK manufacturing firms use more debt financing (i.e., they have more bankruptcy risk), and they have higher profitability ratios, compared with EU manufacturing firms.