Journal of Advances in Economics and Finance

Download PDF (286.1 KB) PP. 27 - 32 Pub. Date: May 8, 2018

DOI: 10.22606/jaef.2018.32002

• Xingkai Yu^*
  College of Economics, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China

With refinement of social division of labor, business model undergoes profound changes. Compared with the traditional heavy-asset business model, a new asset-light business model is now being widespread through market and entrepreneurs. To put it simply, asset-light companies always regard knowledge, technology and brand as their core competence, which focus on R&D and marketing these two high value-added sectors. This paper uses the data of listed companies in China during 2001-2016 as the research sample, and empirically examines the relationship between asset- light strategy and companies’ profitability. Empirical results show that asset-light strategy has no significant effect on companies’ profitability. This may be related to Chinese unique economic environment.

Asset-light, business mode, profitability

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