Analysing the effect of working capital elements on firm performance in the context of the pandemic period: BIST manufacturing sector

In the study, in which we investigated the impact of the Covid 19 Pandemic Crisis, which affected the whole world and our country, on firms, the year-end financial reports of firms operating in the manufacturing sector in Borsa Istanbul were analysed. In the research, 139 firms were included in the sample. Other firms operating in the manufacturing sector were excluded from the sample due to reasons such as intermittent data or inaccessibility. The financial and sectoral crises experienced during the pandemic period, liquidity problems, disruptions in the raw material supply process, and the difficulties experienced by companies in accessing financing sources have once again revealed the importance of working capital management. In order to reveal the effects of the pandemic period in terms of working capital management, the analyses were examined separately as the whole period, pre-pandemic period and pandemic period. In the study, the effect of working capital management elements on firm performance is analysed in four groups as return on assets, return on sales, firm profitability and firm value. Asset profitability and return on equity ratios were used as return on assets criteria, net profit margin and gross profit margin ratios as sales profitability criteria, profit per share and Tobin Q ratios as firm profitability criteria, and economic value added and market value added ratios as firm value criteria. Key Words: Working Capital Management, Firm Performans, Panel Regression Analysis, Covid 19 Pandemic Crisis.