Review of Corporate Finance > Vol 5 > Issue 1–2

Religious and Linguistic Diversity: Opportunity or Threat to Working Capital Management?

Augustine Tarkom, Division of International Banking and Finance Studies, Texas A&M International University, USA, augustinetarkom@dusty.tamiu.edu , Ned Kock, Division of International Banking and Finance Studies, Texas A&M International University, USA, nedkock@tamiu.edu , Nacasius Ujah, Ness School of Management and Economics, South Dakota State University, USA, nacasius.ujah@sdstate.edu
 
Suggested Citation
Augustine Tarkom, Ned Kock and Nacasius Ujah (2025), "Religious and Linguistic Diversity: Opportunity or Threat to Working Capital Management?", Review of Corporate Finance: Vol. 5: No. 1–2, pp 199-244. http://dx.doi.org/10.1561/114.00000057

Publication Date: 31 Mar 2025
© 2025 A. Tarkom, N. Kock and N. Ujah
 
Subjects
Management control,  Corporate finance,  International business,  Panel data
 
Keywords
JEL Codes: M20, M41, Z10
Within-country diversityreligious diversitylinguistic diversityworking capital managementcash conversion cycle
 

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In this article:
Introduction 
Theory and Literature Review 
Research Design and Methodology 
Results and Discussion 
Conclusion 
References 

Abstract

We investigate the effect of within-country diversity (religious and linguistic) on firms’ working capital performance. We build on the arguments that religious diversity in a given country improves performance by promoting corporate ethics, risk-aversion, and limiting opportunistic conduct in business. Linguistic diversity, however, increases the difficulty of doing business, affecting the information-gathering process and increasing the cost of task management. Multiple languages also amplify uncertainty about expectations and interpretations of contracts. Our empirical investigation shows that religious diversity is associated with better working capital performance, while linguistic diversity leads to poorer performance. Cash conversion efficiency is positively linked with higher performance but has a substituting moderating relationship between diversity and performance. Non-positive debt firms are also associated with higher performance and complementarily moderate the impact of diversity on performance. The study further reveals a non-linear effect of diversity on working capital performance.

DOI:10.1561/114.00000057

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Review of Corporate Finance, Volume 5, Issue 1–2 Special Issue on International Corporate Finance: Articles Overview
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