Impact Of Cash Flow on Firm’s Operational Efficiency in Vietnam: Mediation Role of State Ownership

The paper investigates the effect of cash flow on the operational efficiency of non-financial companies listed on the Vietnam stock market, spanning the period from 2010 to 2019. The research results indicate that operating cash flow in the business positively affects operational efficiency, measured through two indicators of Returns on assets (ROA) and Returns on equity (ROE). The effect remains stronger for firms that have state ownership. We also address an endogeneity issue through a two-stage least square and Generalized method of moments. The results are robust through several cross-sectional heterogeneities such as firm size or firm age and other estimation techniques. Investment opportunities (Market-to-Book) and the growth of total assets (Firm growth) also positively affect the firm's performance. On the contrary, the target of company size (Firm size) and the debt ratio (Firm leverage) negatively influence operational efficiency. The paper highlights the importance of cash flow management and provides recommendations for regulators and managers to improve firms' operational efficiency.