• Login
    View Item 
    •   Home
    • Theses and Dissertations
    • Theses and Dissertations
    • View Item
    •   Home
    • Theses and Dissertations
    • Theses and Dissertations
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Browse

    All of TUScholarShareCommunitiesDateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsGenresThis CollectionDateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsGenres

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    Help

    AboutPeoplePoliciesHelp for DepositorsData DepositFAQs

    Statistics

    Most Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors

    Profitability Ratio Analysis for Professional Service Firms

    • CSV
    • RefMan
    • EndNote
    • BibTex
    • RefWorks
    Thumbnail
    Name:
    Whang_temple_0225E_10519.pdf
    Size:
    790.2Kb
    Format:
    PDF
    Download
    Genre
    Thesis/Dissertation
    Date
    2010
    Author
    Whang, Eunyoung
    Advisor
    Banker, Rajiv D.
    Committee member
    Krishnan, Jagan
    Plehn-Dujowich, Jose M.
    Chang, Hsihui
    Department
    Business Administration/Accounting
    Subject
    Business Administration, Accounting
    Professional Service Firms
    Profitability Ratios
    Permanent link to this record
    http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12613/3814
    
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    DOI
    http://dx.doi.org/10.34944/dspace/3796
    Abstract
    The DuPont analysis is one of the most commonly used financial analysis tools for traditional businesses. It disaggregates return on equity (ROE) into profit margin (PM), asset turnover (ATO), and leverage (LEV) thereby providing value-relevant information relative to aggregated profitability. In this paper, I extend the use of the DuPont model to the professional service industry. The professional service industry has recently become one of the fastest growing segments driving the U.S. economy (USITC 2009, U.S. Census Bureau of Economic Analysis 2009). Unlike traditional businesses whose key business assets are their physical assets, professional service firms rely on human capital assets that are not recognized in the balance sheet. I introduce a profitability ratio analysis model that focuses on human capital. I validate the model by examining whether the disaggregated profitability ratios for professional service firms add relevant information over aggregated ratio in the same way as they do for traditional businesses. I use law firms as a representative segment of the professional service sector to empirically evaluate my model. I collect financial and human resource data for 81 of the 100 largest U.S. law firms from 2000 to 2007 then disaggregate profit per equity partner (PPP) into the three profitability ratios: profit margin (PM), revenue per lawyer (RPL), and leverage (LEV). I compare the absolute forecasting error (AFE) of the simple AR (1) model that uses only the current year profit per equity partner (PPP) to forecast one-year ahead profit per equity partner (PPP) and my model that uses the three profitability ratio model (PM, RPL, and LEV) of current year to forecast one-year ahead profit per equity partner (PPP). I find that using the disaggregated profitability ratios significantly improves forecasting of future profitability relative to using only profit per equity partner (PPP), analogous to similar results documented for the DuPont model in Fairfield and Yohn (2001) and Soliman (2004). I examine which firm characteristics are associated with the profitability ratios. I include four firm characteristics variables (STRUCTURE, SCOPE-INTL, SCOPE-RGNL, and SCALE) that are commonly used in economic analysis of industrial organizations. I find that the profitability ratios are systematically associated with firm characteristics that reveal information on the business models of individual firms. Leverage (LEV) is higher in law firms with non-equity partners (STRUCTURE), international focus (SCOPE-INTL), regional focus (SCOPE-RGNL), or large size (SCALE). Law firms that are large sized (SCALE) or regional focused (SCOPE-RGNL) command premium fee (high RPL) on average, but law firms with international focus or with non-equity partners do not.
    ADA compliance
    For Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accommodation, including help with reading this content, please contact scholarshare@temple.edu
    Collections
    Theses and Dissertations

    entitlement

     
    DSpace software (copyright © 2002 - 2023)  DuraSpace
    Temple University Libraries | 1900 N. 13th Street | Philadelphia, PA 19122
    (215) 204-8212 | scholarshare@temple.edu
    Open Repository is a service operated by 
    Atmire NV
     

    Export search results

    The export option will allow you to export the current search results of the entered query to a file. Different formats are available for download. To export the items, click on the button corresponding with the preferred download format.

    By default, clicking on the export buttons will result in a download of the allowed maximum amount of items.

    To select a subset of the search results, click "Selective Export" button and make a selection of the items you want to export. The amount of items that can be exported at once is similarly restricted as the full export.

    After making a selection, click one of the export format buttons. The amount of items that will be exported is indicated in the bubble next to export format.